SDG 8 - DECENT WORK & ECONOMIC GROWTH

In 2020 alone, costs from extreme weather reached roughly US$190 billion across the world. By 2300, Arctic warming is estimated to induce global economic impacts of more than US$66 trillion. In Sápmi, reindeer husbandry is dependent upon predictable environmental conditions in which there is consistent access to food sources and migration routes. 

Warming in the Arctic causes economic impacts that extend well beyond the region itself, which is why it will be more difficult to secure decent work and economic growth without protecting the Arctic. Extreme weather and sea level rise affect agricultural yield and productivity, labor productivity and work intensity, work safety, GDP growth, and individual and household income (particularly affecting daily wage earners and outdoor workers). 

 Impacts from climate change are concentrated in climate vulnerable regions across the tropics, which bear the brunt of exacerbated extreme weather and climate-change impacts such as labor and agricultural productivity loss.  

 Between 2010 and 2019, tropical cyclones, floods, wildfires and other climate-related hazards caused US$2.98 trillion in loss and damages, making it the costliest decade in modern history in terms of extreme weather. In 2020 alone, costs from extreme weather reached roughly US$190 billion across the world. By 2300, Arctic warming is estimated to induce global economic impacts of more than US$66 trillion (Yumashev et al, 2019). 

Arctic Indigenous peoples’ economic growth requires successful mitigation of climate change. Across Sápmi, unpredictable snow and rain conditions make it challenging for reindeer to access lichen–a critical food source. This, in combination with other factors such as the fragmentation of their traditional lands due to renewable energy projects, tourism, and forestry, forces the Sámi to introduce modern technologies and supplementary fodder to ensure herds’ survival. In effect, this is changing Sámi culture (Arctic WWF, 2019). For over 11 years, the Sámi have claimed to be reaching “the limit to resilience”, due to an accumulating amount of stressors including but not limited to climate change (Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011).  

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