Strategic Initiative for Defending Critical Maritime Infrastructure (SIDMI)
The SIDMI project enhances Romania–Norway cooperation on safeguarding offshore energy infrastructure through shared knowledge, practical experience, and research on emerging maritime s...
Lars H. Gulbrandsen
Lars H. Gulbrandsen er assisterende direktør og forskningsleder for klima og energi ved Fridtjof Nansens Institutt. Hans forskningsinteresser er g...
Critical Raw Materials: Interests of China and the European Union in the Arctic
In this Essay, we examine a potential avenue of future contestation in the Arctic – namely, the development of critical raw materials (CRMs) – with a particular focus on two actors with a growing interest in exploiting those materials in the Arctic region: China and the European Union (EU). CRMs increasingly play an essential role in the geopolitics of the global energy transition. In comes the Arctic region – a broad geographic area encompassing eight States that is rich in critical minerals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and REEs. However, mining in the Arctic poses significant risks, particularly to the region’s fragile ecosystem, and would require significant investments, often also involving public-private partnerships. And yet, as demand for critical minerals grows, the Arctic’s role in the global supply chain will likely become more prominent, particularly from a Chinese and EU perspective. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 marked a watershed in relations between the West and the Russian Federation, including in the Arctic region. Once hailed as an exceptional space of regional governance, cooperation and peaceful co-existence between the Arctic States, that notion lost meaning over the past two – almost three – years.
Andreas Raspotnik
Andreas Raspotnik conducts research on the European Union’s policies and interests in the Arctic, with a particular emphasis on EU foreign and sec...
Alf Håkon Hoel
Alf Håkon Hoel is professor of ocean law and policy at the Norwegian College of Fisheries Science at the UiT – the Arctic University of Norway. He...
Gørild Merethe Heggelund
Gørild Merethe Heggelund is a Research Professor at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) and serves as the institute’s project lead with the Centre...
Steinar Andresen
Steinar Andresen is a Senior Research Fellow Emeritus at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI). His research focuses on international agreements, re...
Iselin Stensdal
Iselin Stensdal is a Senior Researcher at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI). Her research interests include Chinese environmental and climate po...
Erdem Lamazhapov
Erdem Lamazhapov is a PhD Research Fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI). His main research interests lie in the fields of environmental,...
Arild Moe
Arild Moe is a Research Professor at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI). Most of his research has focused on Russia, particularly the energy sect...