International Law And The Arctic

Sets out the international law relevant to the Arctic, from indigenous peoples to environmental protection to oil and gas exploration.

Sets out the international law relevant to the Arctic, from Indigenous peoples to environmental protection to oil and gas exploration.

The Arctic is an increasingly important region faced with major challenges caused not only by the effects of climate change, but also by a growing interest in its living and non-living resources, its attraction as a new destination for tourism, and as a route for navigation. It is not only the eight Arctic States that have paid an increased level of attention to the region; several non-Arctic actors from Asia and Europe also seek to gain more influence in the High North. At the same time, the evolving law and policy architecture for the Arctic region has recently played a more prominent role in the political and academic debate. Unlike Antarctica, where the coherent Antarctic Treaty System governs international cooperation, the legal regime of Arctic affairs is based on public international law, domestic law, and 'soft law'. These three pillars intersect and interact making Arctic governance multi-faceted and highly complex. This book provides an analytical introduction, a chronology of legally relevant events, and a selection of essential materials covering a wide range of issues-eg delineation and delimitation of maritime boundaries, environmental protection, indigenous peoples' rights, shipping, and fisheries. Included are multilateral and bilateral treaties, UN documents, official statements, informal instruments, domestic laws, and diplomatic correspondence.

Marine Protected Areas in International Law – an Arctic perspective by Ingvild Ulrikke Jakobsen, examines the legal rights and obligations of states under international law using Marine Protected Areas to protect marine biodiversity, with a particular emphasis on the Arctic region.

Developments in the Arctic region are increasingly part of international discussion. The book contains a comprehensive and interdisciplinary analysis of the current problems around marine scientific research in the Arctic region. It combines scientific, legal and policy aspects. The main questions addressed are: ongoing and future Arctic marine research, marine research in the Arctic Ocean in practice, the legal framework, enlarged continental shelves and the freedom of marine science and particularities and challenges of the Arctic region. The contributors are leading experts in the field of politics, law and science.

Offshore Oil and Gas Development in the Arctic under International Law explores the international legal framework for hydrocarbon development in the marine Arctic.

Focusing on how to improve the participation of non-governmental actors in the making of international climate change laws, this book is a conversation on the relevance of a human rights-based approach to international climate change law-making. The book considers a possible reform of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change institutional arrangement, inspired by the practice and model of participation of Arctic Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic Council. Different non-State entities play a fundamental role in the development and enforcement of the climate change regime by enhancing the knowledge base of decision-making, keeping States in line with their commitments, and engaging in private initiatives aimed at mitigating the impacts of global warming. Albeit non-governmental and subnational actors increasingly work alongside States in the making of a climate change regime, the category of observers through which they participate in intergovernmental negotiations only gives them limited rights and their participation in international norm-making has at times been impaired. The relevance of a human rights-based approach consists in recognising the status of individuals and groups as rights-holders under human rights law, a paradigm that was first established by Arctic Indigenous Peoples when claiming their participatory rights in the Arctic Council, the main forum of governance of the Arctic region. This book argues that, in the absence of a globally binding treaty regulating procedural rights in intergovernmental negotiations, the emerging relationship between human rights and climate change could serve as a legal basis for the enhancement of non-governmental actors’ procedural rights, establishing the right to participation as a right in itself and which can benefit the governance of climate change. Due to the relevance of the addressed subject, the book is destined to a broad readership and will be of use to academic researchers, law practitioners, policy-makers and non-governmental organisations’ representatives.

International Law and Politics of the Arctic Ocean: Essays in Honor of Donat Pharand is a collection of essays by leading international authorities on the current and future legal, political and geographical issues that an expanded use of the Arctic Ocean will raise.