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Global Environmental Governance and Treaty-Making: The Arctic’s Fragmented Voice

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Governing Arctic Change

Abstract

Analysts and policy-makers point to the importance of the Arctic as the metaphorical canary in the coalmine of global climate change and other environmental trends. Arctic countries and non-state groups therefore seek to promote an Arctic agenda in international forums. However, the success of these external efforts has been mixed at best. The variation in Arctic influence across international issue areas—and its consequences for the ability to address Arctic environmental problems—warrants more attention. This chapter examines the role of Arctic issues and actors in two global treaties on dangerous chemicals and heavy metals—the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the 2013 Minamata Convention on Mercury—and the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its related agreements.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Henrik Selin

Authors
  1. Henrik Selin
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. f. Advanced Sustainability Studies , Potsdam, Germany

    Kathrin Keil

  2. Berlin Graduate School for Transnational , Berlin, Germany

    Sebastian Knecht

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Selin, H. (2017). Global Environmental Governance and Treaty-Making: The Arctic’s Fragmented Voice. In: Keil, K., Knecht, S. (eds) Governing Arctic Change. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50884-3_6

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