Our Scans · Svalbard and Jan Mayen · Weekly Summary

• The UK has access to fishing opportunities in the waters around Svalbard under the Treaty of Paris. GOV.UK
• As agriculture and food production grapple with significant challenges from climate change, food insecurity, pandemics, and human conflict, a seed vault buried deep in permafrost in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard emerges as a powerful symbol of international cooperation and hope for humanity. Science Speaks
• About 50 researchers from China are expected in 2024 in the Norwegian science station of Ny-Alesund in the Svalbard Archipelago, where a male and a female lion watch the door of China's Yellow River Station. Newsweek
• Built for long-distance operations, the new class of vessels will sail Arctic waters of the Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea to the north of Svalbard. The Independent Barents Observer
• In an age when environmental challenges and climate change pose unprecedented risks to agriculture, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a beacon of hope. Interesting Engineering
• Silver Endeavour will spend summer 2023 exploring the British Isles, Iceland, and the Arctic - including Greenland, Svalbard, and the Canadian Arctic. Silversea Cruises
• Methane emissions from glacial groundwater springs across Svalbard could exceed 2,000 tonnes over the course of a year - which equates to roughly 10% of the methane emissions resulting from Norway's annual oil and gas energy industry. ScienceDaily
• Methane emissions from glacial groundwater springs across Svalbard could exceed 2,000 tons over the course of a year - which equates to roughly 10% of the methane emissions resulting from Norway's annual oil and gas energy industry. phys.org
• Svalbard is warming six times faster than the global average, with some researchers predicting that, by 2100, its glaciers will be losing ice at double the current rate, regardless of whether global climate targets are hit. The Guardian
• If Norway actually goes ahead with extraction of seabed minerals, it will be the first time the Svalbard Treaty - in terms of extractive seabed resources, including oil and gas - is tested in that region. DGR News Service
• Unlike partner gene banks focused on backing up the diversity of both domesticated and wild plants, such as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault for food crops, the MSB's collections only represent threatened and wild useful plants. phys.org
• The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built to protect the world's food stock from disasters ranging from nuclear war to global warming, will add 19,500 rare seed variety samples from across the world to its collection on Tuesday, taking its total stash to more than 1.2 million. Reuters
• The town of Longyearbyen in the Svalbard archipelago of Norway has published a comprehensive energy plan that emphasizes renewable energy development to support Norway's climate targets for 2030 and 2050. ThinkGeoEnergy
• Multilateral research on the Arctic will continue in Canada, Alaska, Greenland, and in Ny-Alesund, on Norway's Spitsbergen Island. Yale E360
• The first charters are planned to take flight in 2024 when guests will have the opportunity to cruise in complete comfort and luxury from Svalbard to what is often considered ground zero for climate change - the North Pole. Globetrender
• The Norwegian government has introduced a law that plans to limit the number of passengers on board ships that are allowed to call at Svalbard to 500-750 persons, and a maximum of 200 guests for landings in protected areas. Polarjournal
• Norway's state-owned coal company will extend production at its last mine in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago by two years until mid-2025 to help ensure supplies to European steel-makers at a time of war. ArcticToday

Last updated: 18 June 2025