Arctic Climate Change, Economy and Society (ACCESS) Project Gets Underway
24.03.2011 - Water & Oceans, Ice & Snow, Flora & Fauna, Human Dimension, Arctic
This March, the Arctic Climate Change, Economy and Society (ACCESS) project got underway. With climate change in the Arctic likely to have a major impact on marine ecosystems and how humans conduct their activities in the Arctic, the goal of ACCESS is to assess how this change will affect marine transportation (including tourism), fisheries, marine mammals and hydrocarbon extraction in the Arctic Ocean, paying particular attention to environmental sensitivity and sustainability. ACCESS will also work to identify governance options for the changing Arctic and work closely with indigenous groups and stakeholders.
The ACCESS project involves 27 partners from nine European countries, including Russia. Five working groups will focus on:
- Monitoring and modeling Arctic climate change involving the ocean, the atmosphere and sea ice;
- Studying how the opening of the Northeast and Northwest Passages and how transportation activities may affect marine ecosystems and society;
- Examining how climate change affects Arctic fisheries, aquaculture and livelihood of Northern residents (in particular in the Barents Sea region);
- Determining how climate change might affect offshore oil and gas extraction;
- Examining Arctic governance options emerging from the findings of the other groups.
The EU-funded project, which began on March 1st, is being funded for four years under the FP7 programme. A website for the project is now available.
