• Energy Research

The article addresses the issues of route selection for minerals’ transportation based on social, economic, and environmental factors to ensure sustainability in the Arctic. The case of the Tomtor deposit of rare earth metals in Yakutia is considered in the paper. The authors analyze its impact on traditional lands and the environment. To ensure sustainability and to optimize the natural resources’ use for route selection for minerals’ transportation in the Arctic, a system of criteria is proposed. It covers not only the cost of transportation and the distance from the deposit to the processing point, but also the damage to traditional lands of indigenous peoples, and environmental and social risks. An algorithm for choosing the optimal solution for the conservation of natural resources and traditional lands during the transportation of minerals is proposed. It depends on the developed criteria. The proposed approaches can be used during industrial development and investment in the Arctic to optimize the routes of mineral resources’ transportation.

The article discusses the issues of sustainable development of indigenous communities in the Arctic based on the optimization of projects of mining companies. The purpose of the article is to develop tools for decision-making to optimize the mining projects based on economic and mathematical models. The authors suppose that, by comparing and selecting different options for resource extraction, the use of various technologies and the impact of projects, the conditions of the traditional life of indigenous peoples, the preservation of health, it is possible to find a compromise solution for stakeholders. The case-study of Alrosa—a diamond giant mining in Yakutia is researched in the paper. To ensure sustainable development of traditional lands, it is proposed to optimize mining projects, in order to carry out a project maneuver during Arctic development. The project maneuver of the mining company makes it possible to choose the optimal solution from the existing alternatives for the extraction of minerals. The authors propose criteria and procedures for the selection of alternative options for the implementation of extractive projects. The alternative projects selected in this way make it possible to compensate to indigenous communities for the negative impact during industrial development of the Arctic.

The method of the social investing of the Arctic subsoil users is considered in this article. As the portfolio of social investments is formed based on the interests of indigenous peoples, the authors used expert assessment and sociological research for social investing modeling. A two-stage procedure for forming a portfolio of such projects is proposed. An approach has also been developed for assessing and selecting investment projects for the Arctic sustainable development according to different criteria of optimality. The authors substantiate the need for a new approach to sustainable development of the Arctic, based not on compensation for the negative consequences of industrial development used in many countries, but on social investment. In this article the proposed approach is tested on the case of the Arctic indigenous community in Taimyr and the optimal social investing portfolio is justified.

The issues of the environmentally friendly business development in Russia are considered in the paper. The authors research the concept of green production and market, management tools for corporate environmental responsibility. The paper examines the environmental innovations as changes in the socio-economic development of the society, which, together with a positive effect, improve the state of the environment or significantly reduce the negative impact on it. In the conclusion, the authors state that the greening of the enterprise’s relations with consumers implies, on the one hand, encouraging the supply of environmental goods and services, and on the other, creating a consumers’ good taste - economic needs and interests oriented to high eco standards. In the paper, the necessity of the green business guidelines implementation in Russia is justified. It helps to form and improve the entrepreneurial culture and a responsible attitude towards society and nature, as well as to promote principles of green economy.

This article justifies the need to involve technogenic deposits (off-balance ore and wastes) into the economic circulation of mining enterprises when there is a depletion of natural resources. It could be considered as one of the tools of the circular economy. The authors analyze global trends in the development of copper deposits, global demand for copper, and design recommendations for possible alternative options for the copper production. The authors use the case of Erdenet Mining Corporation SOE based in Mongolia to develop the approach for economic, social, and environmental problem-solving. The millions of mining dumps are proposed to develop as technogenic resources for recycled materials, prolonging profitable activities of the mine. The hierarchy analysis method is used to obtain the optimum order of mining dump development to obtain the desired economic, social, and environmental effect.

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a comprehensive view of the benefit sharing and compensation mechanisms for the Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions due to industrial resource extraction. The papers cover the following topics: (1) Benefit-sharing frameworks in the Arctic. (2) Corporate social responsibility standards and benefit sharing by extractive industries in the Arctic. (3) Benefit sharing and international and national legislation. (4) The practice of implementing legislation to support Indigenous and local interests. (5) The methodologies for assessing compensation to Indigenous communities from extractive industries.