Mission SILA

Mission SILA has been an incredibly valuable and rewarding program that took place on Greenland in early May 2011. Core element of the program was a Meeting of Minds between high-level Dutch and Greenlandic delegates concerning the necessity and challenges of sustainable development in the Arctic region.

Dutch delegation member were amongst others HRH crown prince Willem-Alexander, Prof. Dr. Robbert Dijkgraaf (president KNAW) and Erik Oostwegel (CEO Royal Haskoning). Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist and Aaqalluk Lynge (Inuit Circumpolar Council) were the most eminent participants on behalf of Greenland. Host of the program was Johan van den Gronden on behalf of WWF Netherlands.

The dialogue was mainly focussed on the opportunities and risks concerning future oil and gas exploration in the region. Due to the ongoing melting and receding of sea ice more and more areas are becoming accessible by boat. This presents potentially enormous economic opportunities for businesses and welcome prosperity chances for the Greenlandic society. But these opportunities are accompanied with great risks for both environment and the local communities. An oil spill in the cold and often stormy Arctic waters will most definitely lead to catastrophic damage as the conditions (temperature, lack of daylight in winter and floating ice debris) would make cleaning operations nearly impossible. An additional stress on an already vulnerable ecosystem, which would have severe long-term effects.

Previous to the roundtable discussions the Dutch delegation had a meeting with scientists from the University of Utrecht and a team of the European Space Agency (ESA). Both organizations are actively involved in the global research concerning the melting of the icecaps. In addition they made a visit tot a polar research station on the icecap to witness firsthand the challenges of Arctic research. In addition several different experts on the history and legal frameworks of life and development of the Arctic region advised the team.

Icentials co-founder and polar explorer Marc Cornelissen and polar explorer Philip de Roo have developed Mission SILA as a personal initiative. Together with Michel Schuurman and WWF staff they have worked hard to realize the program.

The Meeting of Minds has laid the foundation for an ongoing dialogue between Greenland and The Netherlands that will be continued on different ways and different levels. More detailed information on the program can be found on the special WWF page here.