Historic construction for coal transport, Longyearbyen, Svalbard© iStock “The global demand is a very strong driver affecting the Arctic economy” 16 June 2020Arctic PeoplesData and knowledgeAssessmentsSustainable Development Working GroupThe Economy of the North (ECONOR) An interview with co-editor Iulie Aslaksen about the upcoming “Economy of the North 2020” report (ECONOR IV report) In May 2021, the Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group will present “The Economy of the North 2020” report to the ministers of the eight Arctic States. This is a comprehensive circumpolar overview of economic and socioeconomic statistics and research on sustainability in the North. It is the fourth report of its kind, in the series of ECONOR reports, and an important contribution to foster understanding of the diversity of economic activities in the Arctic. We spoke to Iulie Aslaksen, co-editor of the ECONOR reports, about the upcoming report and the insights we can expect from it. Iulie Aslaksen is a senior researcher at Statistics Norway. Fifteen years ago, she became involved with the Arctic Council’s Economy of the North project, short: ECONOR, led by the Sustainable Development Working Group. She was immediately interested in the project, and when her colleagues realized the large scope of the project and shied away, she got her chance. Together with the project report’s editor in chief, senior researcher Solveig Glomsrød, then at Statistics Norway, now at CICERO Center for International Climate Research, she sensed the opportunity this project entailed. Supported by the “founding fathers” of the ECONOR project, Prof Gérard Duhaime from the University of Laval, Quebec, Canada, Birger Poppel from the University in Greeland Ilisimatusarfik, and Prof Ilmo Mäenpää (now retired) from the University in Oulu, in Finland, Iulie Aslaksen and Solveig Glomsrød began their work on the most comprehensive accounts of the economy of the Arctic. From the third ECONOR report and onwards, Gérard Duhaime has also been ECONOR co-editor.