Abstract
The Arctic is undergoing unprecedented and large-scale changes that impact communities as well as the natural environment. Climate change, globalization and a rush for resources provide a unique mix of challenges also from the perspective of governance. This leads to the question how the Arctic states can react to this fundamentally new situation, a question that becomes urgent in light of the reactive nature of international law and the speed and scope of the changes experienced in the North. This issue appears under-researched from a legal perspective, just as there is a relative absence of hard law, in particular relating to the central Arctic ocean, with which this chapter is primarily concerned. The text aims at showing existing reactions to these challenges by expanding the scope of the investigation to soft law and to the role of the Arctic Council, which is not an international organization in the proper sense of the term. It is shown that there are indeed international efforts to govern the central Arctic ocean. While these efforts are currently still fragmented, their existence holds the promise of a reactive capacity of the international Arctic community even in the face of massive changes.
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Notes
- 1.
Even though Iceland has occasionally tried to contest this.
- 2.
UNCLOS recognizes four types of baselines for drawing maritime zones: straight, normal, archipelagic, and closing lines across river mouths and bays, see Articles 3, 33, 47, 57, and 76.
- 3.
Emphasis added.
- 4.
Data from National Snow and Ice Data Center, available at: https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/sotc/sea_ice.html.
- 5.
Yet, it is also correct to point out that the states used the term “law of the sea” in Ilulissat Declaration, simply because the United States is not a party to this Convention.
- 6.
All remaining 2018 journeys through the Northwest Passage with Polar Cruises are either full or with limited availability, see https://www.polarcruises.com/arctic/destinations/northwest-passage.
- 7.
This follows from the preambles of the Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic, https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/bitstream/handle/11374/531/EDOCS-1910-v1-ACMMDK07_Nuuk_2011_Arctic_SAR_Agreement_unsigned_EN.PDF?sequence=8&isAllowed=y, and of the Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic, https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/bitstream/handle/11374/529/EDOCS-2067-v1-ACMMSE08_KIRUNA_2013_agreement_on_oil_pollution_preparedness_and_response__in_the_arctic_formatted.PDF?sequence=5&isAllowed=y.
- 8.
Before this, there was a joint project between the Council working groups Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) and Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) on the project Best Practices in Ecosystem-Based Ocean Management in the Arctic (BePOMAr), which was completed by 2009.
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Koivurova, T., Kleemola-Juntunen, P., Kirchner, S. (2020). Emergence of a New Ocean: How to React to the Massive Change?. In: Coates, K.S., Holroyd, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Arctic Policy and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20557-7_25
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