A Voyage Around the North Pole: Modern Exploration and Climate Change

Changes to the environment and climate of the Arctic are offering new opportunities for both competition and collaboration among the states on its periphery. Dynamism in the region will only increase in the coming decades, as water levels rise, gas and oil reserves are explored, and territorial claims are challenged. How do we successfully navigate the Arctic challenges of tomorrow?

Thorleif Thorleifsson, Norwegian arctic mariner, will assess the state of the actual physical environment in the Arctic and its impact on the strategic environment. He will talk about his 2010 record breaking voyage around the Arctic, and the challenges and environmental changes encountered along the way, as well as the Norwegian history of Arctic exploration and explorers of the past.

Environmental Counselor, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Mari Archer Sæther will speak briefly about environmental change and introduce Thorleifsson.

A Q & A follows the lecture.