The Arctic Resilience Interim Report that is released today, finds that rapid – even abrupt – changes are occurring on multiple fronts across the Arctic, raising the risk of crossing thresholds that would cause irreversible changes to ecosystems, environmental processes, and societies.
The Arctic is in the spotlight like never before. Scientists and environmentalists watch it as a bellwether of global climate change, while nations and corporations seek to exploit the region’s oil, gas and mineral reserves, and new shipping routes. Yet most discussions of the Arctic fail to consider how changes in climate, ecosystems, economics, and society interact.
The Arctic Resilience Report (ARR), led by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University (SRC) and in collaboration with a large number of experts in the Nordic countries, Russia, Canada, and the U.S. representing a range of knowledge traditions including indigenous perspectives, set out to fill that gap. The ARR Interim Report has found that it is the combination of multiple, dramatic changes that is pushing social-ecological systems to their limits.
The final report of the ARR will be released in May 2015.
Links provided
Official press release: SEI-SRC-2013-pressrelease-Arctic-Resilience-Report (313 KB) (English) and in Swedish: SEI-SRC-2013-pressmeddelande-ARR-SWE_final (283 KB)
Arctic Resilience Interim Report 2013:
High res link (22,3 MB)
Low res link (8,7 MB)
List of Errata (for the printed edition only, the web edition has been corrected) (PDF, 226 KB)
Summary for Policy Makers: Summary for Policy Makers (1 752 KB)
Follow this link to download specific Parts of the Arctic Resilience Interim Report.
To watch an interview with Annika E. Nilsson (SEI) and Sarah Cornell (SRC) about the Arctic Resilience Report 2013, click here.
Note to editors: Annika E. Nilsson is in Kiruna on 14–15 May; please contact Ylva Rylander for interviews. Sarah Cornell is available for interviews in Stockholm or by telephone; please contact Sturle Hauge Simonsen. Several other ARR authors, in Alaska, Canada and Europe, are also available, through any of the contacts below. All media contacts can also provide high-resolution photographs and graphics.
For more information, please contact:
Ylva Rylander – Director of Communications, SEI (European media)
ylva.rylander@sei-international.org +46 73 150 3384
Sturle Hauge Simonsen – Head of Communications, SRC (European media)
sturle.hauge.simonsen@stockholmresilience.su.se +46 8 674 7428
Marion Davis – Communications Manager, SEI-US (Americas, Asia and all others)
marion.davis@sei-international.org +1 617 245 0895
The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
The Stockholm Environment Institute is an independent international research institute. The Institute has established a reputation for rigorous and objective scientific analysis in the field of environment and development. SEI aims to bring about change for sustainable development by bridging science and policy. www.sei-international.org
The Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC)
The Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University advances transdisciplinary research for governance of social-ecological systems with a special emphasis on resilience – the ability to deal with change and continue to develop. www.stockholmresilience.su.se
