A Public Governance Look at CSR: CSR as a Modality for Governments to Encourage Contributions to Public Policy Objectives in the Exploitation of Arctic Natural Resources

Natural resource exploitation in the Arctic generally does not encounter the problems associated with weak public governance that have marred several resource-rich countries elsewhere in the world and led to calls for CSR as private governance. This paper posits that in Arctic states CSR offers interesting potential for public regulators to steer private/public-private resource exploitation towards increased contributions to public sustainability and welfare state objectives. The significance of CSR policies and practices as private governance modalities towards risk management and as competition parameters combine with normative guidance based on CSR norms (e.g. the UN Global Compact, OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the UN Guidelines on Business and Human Rights). Focusing on debates concerning resource extraction operations in Greenland and the pertinent policy framework, this paper discusses the potential which CSR may hold as a governance modality for public regulators to encourage contributions of extractives industry operators towards sustainable Arctic development.