Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

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Chapter 2 · Status of the natural and human environments

the most remote and depopulating areas, the possibilities for continuing to provide strong support to regional health systems and education services have recently come under discussion as continued outmigration challenges these systems (e.g. Johansson et al., 2011). In northwest Russia, where fertility and life expectancy are low and net out-migration has been higher than in the Nordic countries, there has been a rapid depopulation during the post-Soviet period (Heleniak, 1999, 2014). The exception is the relatively fast-growing Komi capital, although the resource extracting industries are increasingly based on temporary labor comprising long- distance commuters to the region and this provides challenges for labor supply and the tax base for healthcare, housing, education and welfare services (Johnsen and Perjo, 2014). Employment in the Barents Region reflects the general pattern of urbanization, and labor market participation in the working age group is generally high, indicating the strong role of waged work (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2011; Larsen and Huskey, 2015). The Arkhangelsk Region (with Nenets Autonomous Area) and Komi Republic are the largest economies by total GRP (gross regional product),while the Swedish andNorwegian parts of the Barents Region are the largest economies in terms of GRP per capita (Huskey et al., 2014). The mining industry, metal industry and the processing of forestry products are the main industries in the Russian, Swedish, and Finnish parts of the Barents Region (Figure 2.11), although the service sector is currently the largest source of employment. For example, services currently represent 62% of GRP in northern Sweden. The primary and secondary industries of the economy, i.e.

19th and 20th centuries. In addition, ethnic diversity has increased further through a large influx both for work and as refugees in the countries. Large numbers of Polish workers have been involved in the construction of the Snøhvit gas platform in the Barents Sea and the Ormen Lange gas project in northwest Norway, and Thai immigration as well as guest workers and seasonal workers (such as for berry picking) exist in many northern regions (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2011; Keskitalo and Southcott, 2015).The ongoing crisis in the Middle East (Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq) has also resulted in a large inflow of immigrants to Fennoscandian countries. Despite these shifts in population, the general trend remains one of an aging population, with northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland having as much as 25% of the population over 60 years old (double that for the Russian parts of the Barents Region).This also manifests in patterns of residency, with older people often remaining in the countryside while younger people move to urban centers (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2011). While an aging population generally has higher health concerns, according to Rautio et al. (2014) Nordic countries “ rank the highest in every health indicator, and there is generally little difference between north and south, or between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people ”. Mortality and health rates differ, however, between northern Norway, Sweden and Finland (which have some of the lowest rates in the world) and northern Russia, where mortality rates are similar to those of less developed countries (Emelyanova and Rautio, 2012; Emelyanova 2015). Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in all these areas. However, in

Industry:

Forest-based

Mining

Metal

Tourism

Manufacturing

Oil

Fish

Figure 2.11 Overview of industries in the Barents area (based on ÅF-Infraplan, 2005).