Implementing the United Nations SDGs in the Arctic: A Comparative Study of Norway and Russia

The Arctic states have committed to sustainable development in line with the universal and ambitious UN Sustainable development goals to end poverty, foster gender equality and fight climate change. However, some research suggests that the UN SDGs are not designed for the Arctic conditions as indicators exclude cultural context of indigenous peoples, cultural wellbeing or the retention of ancestral languages, the importance of mixed and subsistence economies (Sköld 2018). Furthermore, the UN SDGs framework is viewed as global top-down initiative in need of local bottom-up responses (Mineev et al., 2020). A typical challenge of such universal approaches is potential lack of access to local knowledge, limited ability to involve local actors. We invite contributions that address the UN SDGs' suitability and applicability in the Arctic and provide suggestions for further steps to secure sustainable development in the Arctic.