Tällberg Forum in Sigtuna, Sweden: “How on earth can we live together?” Steffen Weber, Secretary General of the EU Arctic Forum introduces the Arctic in the debate
Organized annually by Tällberg Foundation, the Forum traditionally brings together intellectuals, politicians, businessmen, and independent thinkers from all over the world to discuss the challenges the globe is facing today. Steffen Weber, Secretary General of the EU Arctic Forum, noted in the discussion the importance of tackling rapid changing within the regions, which was also addressed by other High North representatives.
Steffen Weber, Secretary General EUAF and Achim Steiner, Director UNEP at the Tällberg Forum
A starting topic of the 2011 meeting was a need for a “new strategic maps,” as old institutions and systems of governance in certain parts of the world do not correspond to new realities altered by globalization and development. Robert Corell, Professor at the Arctic University in Tromsø, took the floor first. He delivered a brief overview climate change in the Arctic and addressed the region as the one that features the nexus of environmental, energy, and fiscal issues, which he believed could not be solved in isolation.
The former chairman of Statoil, Arve Johnsen, illustrated how the new map of the Arctic is created “on the ground,” refering to a historical agreement between Russia and Norway on border delimitation in the Barents Sea.
The Prime Minister of Greenland, Kuupik Kleist, was invited to speak about the difficult choice between economic development and traditional way of living, a dilemma Greenlanders are exposed to nowadays. Even though the three speakers came from different backgrounds, they all shared a common vision of the Arctic as a region of a growing global salience.
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