The tip of the iceberg

Klima- og miljøminister Tine Sundtoft (H) fastsatte i januar en ny grense for iskanten, som nå går lengre mot nord enn tidligere. Det er gode nyheter for oljeindustrien, men ikke for miljøorganisasjonen Greenpeace. (Foto: Paul Gierszewski/Wikimedia Commons)
- Its bulk is hidden under the surface. And so it is in the High North, emphasizes Oddgeir Danielsen.
- Its bulk is hidden under the surface. And so it is in the High North, emphasizes Oddgeir Danielsen.

He is director of the Northern Dimension Partnership on Transportation and Logistics (NDPTL). Based in Helsinki, Danielsen wants to accelerate the development of transport networks in the High North.
NDPTL is an organization with four cooperating participants: Norway, EU, Iceland and Russia.

Key element

- Transport and infrastructure are integral to economic growth in the High North, Danielsen says.

He has not overlooked the EUs desire for constructive relations with their external energy suppliers, or their interest in the development of mineral-based industry. There is already a Joint Barents Transport Plan, currently only a report.

- When, in 2007, a Russian planted their national flag at the North Pole, the whole world laughed - for two minutes. I think we have to say it like this: "use it or lose it," says Oddgeir Danielsen.

Railway

During a seminar in Brussels this week, Danielsen highlighted the need for better transport links as a prerequisite for growth in the High North. During the same seminar, director Felix Tschudi from Tschudi Shipping stressed that Norway and the Kola Peninsula offer year-round ice-free access to the Arctic, and that this must be used to our advantage.


- A railway from Rovaniemi to Kirkenes and a pipeline along the same pathway are projects that can give new truth to the word that activity generates activity
, Tschudi says.

Hot topic

The seminar in the European Parliament in Brussels gathered nearly 100 participants, demonstrating that discourse around the High North is heating up. The NorthNorway European Office was in charge of the seminar, in cooperation with the High North Center at the University of Nordland. Alyn Smith, member for Scotland, hosted the Parliament.


Read more about the seminar here:
http://www.northnorway.org/summary-of-arctic-business-and-maritime-security.801057.aspx



SPEAKERS: Alyan Smith (to the left) (Member of the European Parliament for Scotland), Bergdis Ellertsdotter (Ambassador, the Icelandic Mission to the European Union), Lill Harriet Brusdal (Manager Safety and Sustainability, Statoil), Felix Tschudi (Tschudi Group / Centre for High Logistics), Oddgeir Danielsen (director, Northern Dimension Partnership on Transports and Logistics), Frode Mellemvik (director High North Center for Business and Governance, University of Nordland) and Dennis Malone (project manag
SPEAKERS: Alyan Smith (to the left) (Member of the European Parliament for Scotland), Bergdis Ellertsdotter (Ambassador, the Icelandic Mission to the European Union), Lill Harriet Brusdal (Manager Safety and Sustainability, Statoil), Felix Tschudi (Tschudi Group / Centre for High Logistics), Oddgeir Danielsen (director, Northern Dimension Partnership on Transports and Logistics), Frode Mellemvik (director High North Center for Business and Governance, University of Nordland) and Dennis Malone (project manager, University of the Highland and Islands, Scotland). (Photo: Nordområdesenteret)

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