диссертация (1169188), страница 96
Текст из файла (страница 96)
4 million people,including more than thirty indigenous peoples, live in the Arctic. For theindigenous peoples, natural or manmade changes in the Arctic have the mostdramatic consequences. Pollution of the environment, reduction of deer pasturesand hunting grounds are impairing the traditional life of the northern peoples. Asobserved by Patricia Coachran, in just a decade, the life of these peoples haschanged a great deal: instead of dog sleds and igloos, they now have snowmobiles,permanent homes and supermarkets. But the results of these changes are notalways positive. New conditions have brought drug addiction, deterioration ofhealth and, the saddest of all, high mortality rate, especially among the youth (dueto many suicides).575Overall, indigenous peoples, not only northern ones, are most vulnerable inthe conditions of global climate change and related social and economic change.The issue of their survival and preservation of culture and identity has becomemost acute and has received central focus, for instance, at the 2009 IndigenousPeoples Global Summit on Climate Change in Anchorage.In the context of EIA, it becomes clear that indigenous peoples areobjectively one of the most interested parties in the active involvement in this574Koivurova T.
Gaps in International Regulatory Frameworks for the Arctic Ocean. / Environmental Security in theArctic Ocean. … P. 141–142.575Coachran P.A. Impacts on Indigenous Peoples from Ecosystem Changes in the Arctic Ocean. / Environmentalsecurity in the Arctic Ocean. … P. 77.425procedure, to, among other things via that mechanism, promote their interests. Butwhat is their role in the practice?A number of authors note that applying the EIA while involving indigenouscommunities is fraught with problems.
And this is not due to the deficiencies oflegal regulation. Apart from national and international legal acts, there are soft lawinstruments that can serve as guidelines to make the EIA regulation more detailed.Legal practice in this sense has accumulated. For example, one could look at theEIA for coastal areas. The common feature with the social conditions of northernpeoples is that conservation of ecosystems in coastal regions, just like in theArctic, is determinative for the economic and social situation. In the EuropeanCode of Conduct for Coastal Zones developed with the participation of the EU andadopted on 19 April 1999 in Geneva,576 EIA is discussed separately.
It is viewed asa mechanism of assessing the cumulative effect of anthropogenic impact in coastalzones. According to the Code, the legal norms and rules ensuring a population’sparticipation in this process should be consistently and efficiently observed at allstages of project planning. What it means is this.In planning a new project, public hearings to find out the public’s opinionshould be held at the earliest stage possible, before investments are made or anydecisions are adopted regarding the project. If necessary, funds to support theparticipation of interested groups of the population in decision-making should beset up. Public opinion must be incorporated in the plans and programmes beingdrafted.
Furthermore, an efficient mechanism should be put in place that could beused if that opinion is not taken into account. In case of material differencesbetween the population and project owner, a referendum should be held in theregion.All advisors’ reports; the feasibility study for the project; studies on theproject’s safety; financial calculations – all these materials should be published and576European Code of Conduct for Coastal Zones.
Committee for the Activities of the Council of Europe in the Fieldof Biological and Landscape Diversity. 3rd meeting, Geneva, 19 April 1999, CO-DBP (99) 11.426openly accessible. To inform the population on new developments in the projectand relevant facts, the project owner must publish regular reports.Tomaintainconstantinvolvementofthepopulationinprojectimplementation, the project owner must form public advisory panels or ensure thatmembers of the public participate in official meetings on the project.577Some of these provisions, it seems, could be used to engage indigenouspeoples in EIA as well (e.g., creation of funds and advisory panels).Nevertheless, despite the degree of legal regulation of this procedure and itsefficiency for striking a balance of interests of various parties, the interests ofindigenous communities, according to some authors, often remain ignored.578People are barely involved in the assessment process, lack sufficient information,or their participation is inefficient.R.S.
Fjellheim and J.B. Henriksen see the solution in departing fromestablished EIA methods and focusing on direct mandatory negotiations withindigenous communities and their wider information.579However, it appears that the problem of involving indigenous peoples inEIA is deeper and cannot be addressed solely by applying new methods and formsof conducting it. The problem is due to insufficient adaptation of indigenouspeoples to new economic conditions forming in the Arctic due to climate and othernatural changes.
The most important thing is that the future of the Arctic should beshaped by the people living there, as Sara Olsvig writes in the book “The Arctic inWorld Affairs.”580 As the starting position, she names the provision on the right toself-determination contained in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous577European Code of Conduct for Coastal Zones. Geneva, April 19, 1999. CO-DBP (99) 11.578Larsen J.N. Global Change, Northern Transformations and a changing Socio-Economic landscape. /Environmental Security in the Arctic Ocean.
… P. 222.579Fjellheim R.S., Henriksen J.B. (2006) Oil and gas exploitation on Arctic indigenous peoples’ territories. Humanrights, international law and corporate social responsibility. Galdu Cala – Indigenous Peoples Rights 4:1-37http://www.galu.org/govat/doc/oilengelsk2.pdf580Olsvig S. Greenland perspective. Building Resilient Communities in the Arctic. / The Arctic in World Affairs. ANorth Pacific Dialogue on the Future of the Arctic.
North Pacific Arctic Conference Proceedings. 2013. Ed. by O.R.Young, J.D. Kim, Y.H. Kim. Seoul, Honolulu, 2013, P. 255.427Peoples.581 According to this right, for instance, the Inuit she is writing about areentitled freely to determine ways of their political, social, economic and culturaldevelopment. This right was confirmed in the Alta Outcome Document approvedby the members of indigenous peoples who came from all around the world for theConference in June 2013.582 It was specified for issues important to practice,primarily resource management, in the Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on ResourceDevelopment Principles in Inuit Nunaat.583 The rights of indigenous peoples, itsays, including the right to self-determination, may be exercised throughgovernment structures comprised of the representatives of both Inuits and nonInuits.
Irrespective of the level and form of self-determination the Inuits haveachieved in every region, according to the Declaration, exploitation of resources inInuit Nunaat should be carried out based on the freely expressed, informedpreliminary consent of the Inuits of that region. In legal literature, this provision ofthe Declaration is viewed as the key element of decision-making: i.e., decisionsmust be made only after studying the information submitted in advance. This alsomeans the indigenous people’s right to be one of the decision-makers for thedevelopment and exploitation of their lands, territories and resources.584At least the rights and principles are formulated and adopted.
However, theirimplementation is a much more difficult stage. To exercise this right with respectto resource exploitation in the interests of indigenous peoples, preserving thosepeoples’ ethnical identities and their development in the new conditions, it isnecessary to ensure cooperation between governmental structures and businesscircles, on the one hand, and communities, on the other.585 Sara Olsvig, already581TheUnitedNationsDeclarationonthehttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf582RightsofIndigenousPeoples(2007)The Alta Outcome Document (2013): http://wcip2014.org/1530583Inuit Circumpolar Council: A Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Resource Development Principles in InuitNunaat(2011)http://inuitcircumpolar.com/files/uploads/icc-files/Declaration_onResources_Development_A3_FINAL.pdf584Olsvig S. op. cit., P.
256.585Smith D. Inuit perspective. Building Resilient Communities in the Arctic. / The Arctic in World Affairs. A NorthPacific Dialogue on the Future of the Arctic. North Pacific Arctic Conference Proceedings. 2013. Ed. by O.R.Young, J.D. Kim, Y.H. Kim. Seoul, Honolulu, 2013, P. 237.428mentioned above, also stresses that in Greenland, work is constantly underway toimprove the laws so that indigenous peoples can have clear legal grounds toreceive information and participate in decision-making.586Another difficulty for applying the EIA procedure in the Arctic region is thelack of scientific data. The problem is due to the fact that, even before, when theArctic was understudied, the relevant scientific data was collected in the USSRsystematically.
![](https://s.studizba.com/z.php?f=/templates/si/i/noavatar.png&w=100&h=100&t=1"){kind=avatar}
