Understanding the Role of Science in Resource Management Decisions for a Changing Arctic: A Policymaker's View

Science plays an important–but not exclusive–role in public policy decisions. The underlying goal of policymakers is to enact good policy while maintaining constituent approval. Political necessities, especially economic and social considerations, can conflict or appear to conflict with science. As the Arctic changes, the tendency for policymakers to consider science in resource management decisions will vary depending on the degree of real or perceived mutual benefit to competing constituencies. Moreover, ambiguous or conflicting scientific claims can sideline science as a decision factor. Even when stakeholders conflict and scientific information is unclear, however, science can still influence political compromises.

Building constituent support and trust for science is vital to gaining long-term credibility with policymakers. Two examples from the Arctic provide illustration. Acceptance of a common goal–sustainable fisheries–among the fishing and environmental communities has enabled science to serve as a primary decision tool in North Pacific fisheries. With this acceptance, policymakers can be politically confident in the choice to follow scientific advice. In contrast, mineral resource development has often been characterized by competing stakeholder interests and conflicting scientific claims about environmental impacts, making decisions more controversial and subject to greater influence from non-scientific considerations.

The speaker will discuss situations where science was more or less influential in decision making and what these experiences suggest about the potential role of science in resource management decisions in a changing Arctic. Although the influence of science will inevitably vary, scientists can enhance its role by engaging with the constituencies and institutions that determine policy outcomes.