The risk-based approach to dimensioning of Arctic emergency response - real and perceived emergency response in Greenland and Svalbard

There are specific hazards in the Arctic that challenge everyday activities, emergency response, and rescue operations. Both Greenland and Svalbard face challenges in emergency preparedness and have adopted strategies to approach these. While the Arctic hazards they confront are similar, there are differences in the cost and effectiveness of their responses. Many countries, including those in the Arctic, are adopting a risk-based approach to emergency preparedness and response planning. Risk-based dimensioning aims to ensure consistency between available emergency response resources and the local economic reality, matching identified risks. Many factors influence decision-making on preparedness, such as context-specific hazards, available resources, experiences with previous events, overall activity, and the need to prioritise different public goods. The paper aims to examine the specific emergency preparedness structures established in Greenland and Svalbard to address local risks and the extent to which they can be characterised as risk-based. The findings in this study stem from data collected during emergency response, discussions with key stakeholders in emergency preparedness in the two contexts, and the author's own observations in Svalbard and Greenland. The paper explains the available rescue resources in Longyearbyen and Nuuk, identifies risks, and outlines the development of a local emergency response framework. It then discusses the practical applicability of a risk-based approach to dimensioning in Arctic emergency response. The findings show that in Nuuk, the risk-based approach was based on different scenarios, while in Longyearbyen, the focus was on the consequences of different identified hazards. The differences between the two can at least partly explain the significant cost difference in local emergency preparedness.

Keywords: Preparedness dimensioning, Arctic, Risk analysis, Preparedness analysis, Preparedness planning.