Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T13:49:43.216Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Limits and possibilities of the Arctic Council in a rapidly changing scene of Arctic governance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2009

Timo Koivurova*
Affiliation:
Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland ([email protected])

Abstract

In a very short time, discussions on Arctic governance have moved from being a topic of scholarly attention and NGO advocacy onto the agendas of states and of the European Union (EU). Increasingly, the various alternatives propounded by a diverse set of actors over what Arctic governance should look like appear as pre-negotiation tactics, a type of testing period before a regime change. The article examines whether the still predominant inter governmental forum, the Arctic Council, is facing a threat of being supplanted by other forms of governance. It will study how resistant the Arctic Council, and its predecessor the 1991 Arctic environmental protection strategy, are to change in order to understand whether the council could renew itself to meet future challenges. It will also examine the various proposals for Arctic governance set out by states, the EU and the region's indigenous peoples. All this will permit conclusions to be drawn on where the Arctic Council stands amid all these proposals and whether, and in what way, it should change to support more sustainable governance in the Arctic.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ACIA (Arctic climate impact assessment) 2004. Impacts of a warming Arctic. Arctic climate impact assessment overview report. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. URL: http://amap.no/acia/Google Scholar
Arctic Council. 1998. The Arctic Council rules of procedure as adopted by the Arctic Council at the first Arctic Council ministerial meeting, 17–18 September 1998. Iqaluit: Arctic Council. URL: http://arctic-council.org/filearchive/official%20rules%20and%20procedures.pdfGoogle Scholar
Arctic Council. 2006. Common objectives and priorities for the Norwegian, Danish and Swedish chairmanships of the Arctic Council (2006–2012). URL: http://arctic-council.org/article/2007/11/common_prioritiesGoogle Scholar
Arctic Council. 2007. Final report of the Narvik SAO meeting, 28–29 November 2007. URL: http://arctic-council.org/filearchive/Narvik%20-FINAL%20Report-%2023Apr08.docGoogle Scholar
Arctic Council. 2008a. Final report of the Svolvaer SAO meeting, 23–24 April 2008. URL: http://arctic-council.org/filearchive/Sao%20Svolvaer%20Final%20Report.pdfGoogle Scholar
Arctic Council. 2008b. Final draft agenda of the Kautokeino SAO meeting 19–20 November 2008. URL: http://arctic-council.org/filearchive/ac-sao-nov08-final_agenda_v1.pdfGoogle Scholar
AEPS (Arctic environmental protection strategy). 1991. Arctic environmental protection strategy. International Legal Materials 30. 1624. URL: http://arctic-council.org/filearchive/artic_environment.pdfCrossRefGoogle Scholar
AMAP (Arctic monitoring and assessment programme). 2008. Oil and gas assessment overview final report, 1 May 2008. URL: http://www.amap.no/oga/Google Scholar
Bloom, E. 1999. The establishment of the Arctic Council. American Journal of International Law 93: 712722.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
EU Commission. 2008. Communication from the commission to the European parliament and the council. The European Union and the Arctic region. 20 November 2008. Brussels: European commission (COM(2008) 763). URL: http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/pdf/com08_763_en.pdfGoogle Scholar
European Parliament. 2008. Resolution of 9 October 2008 on Arctic governance. Brussels: European Parliament URL: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2008-0474+0+DOC+XML+V0//ENGoogle Scholar
Ilulissat declaration. 2008. Ilulissat: Arctic Council (Arctic Ocean conference, Ilulissat, Greenland 27–29 May 2008). URL: http://arctic-council.org/filearchive/Ilulissat-declaration.pdfGoogle Scholar
Inari declaration. 2002. On the occasion of the third ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council 2002. Inari: Arctic Council. URL: http://arctic-council.org/filearchive/The%20signed%20Inari%20Declaration.pdfGoogle Scholar
IPCC (Inter-governmental panel on climate change). 2001. Climate change 2001: synthesis report: summary for policy-makers (IPCC plenary XVIII, Wembley, UK, 24–29 September 2001). URL: http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/climate-changes-2001/synthesis-spm/synthesis-spm-en.pdfGoogle Scholar
Inuit leaders. 2008. Inuit declaration on sovereignty in the Arctic (Issued by Inuit leaders at the Inuit leaders’ summit on Arctic sovereignty, 6–7 November 2008). URL: http://www.sikunews.com/art.html?artid=5711&catid=2Google Scholar
Jacobsen, T., and Stone, I.R.. 2006. Kolbeinsey: Iceland's Arctic island. Polar Record 42 (221): 167169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keskitalo, E.C.H. 2002. Constructing ‘the Arctic’. Acta Universitatis Lapponiensis 47. (Revised version published as Keskitalo, E.C.H. 2004. Negotiating the Arctic. The construction of an international region. New York and London: Routledge).Google Scholar
Koivurova, T., and Heinämäki, L.. The participation of indigenous peoples in international norm-making in the Arctic. Polar Record 42 (221): 101109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koivurova, T. 2002. Environmental impact assessment in the Arctic: a study of international legal norms. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.Google Scholar
Koivurova, T. 2006. The draft for a Nordic Saami convention. In: European Yearbook of Minority Issues 2006. Leiden, Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 6: 103–136.Google Scholar
Koivurova, T., and VanderZwaag, D.. 2007. The Arctic Council at 10 years: retrospect and prospects. University of British Columbia Law Review 40 (1): 121194.Google Scholar
Koivurova, T. 2008. Alternatives for an Arctic treaty – evaluation and a new proposal. European Community and International Environmental Law (special International Polar Year issue) 17 (1): 1426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koivurova, T. 2008. The draft Nordic Saami convention: nations working together. International Community Law Review 10: 279293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mcglade, J. 2007. The Arctic environment: why Europe should care. Speech at Arctic frontiers conference Tromsø, 23 January 2007. URL: http://www.eea.europa.eu/pressroom/speeches/23-01-2007Google Scholar
Möttölä, K. (editor). 1988. The Arctic challenge: Nordic and Canadian approaches to security and cooperation in an emerging international region. Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Nilsson, A.E. 2007. A changing Arctic climate: science and policy in the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. Linköping: Linköping University, Department of Water and Environmental Studies (Linköping Studies in Arts and Science 386).Google Scholar
Nowlan, L. 2001. Arctic legal regime for environmental protection. Gland, Cambridge: International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN Environmental Policy and Law Paper No. 44). URL: http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/EPLP-044.pdfGoogle Scholar
Ottawa declaration. 1996. On the establishment of the Arctic Council. 1996. International Legal Materials 35. 13851390. URL: http://arctic-council.org/filearchive/Declaration%20on%20the%20Establishment%20of%20the%20Arctic%20Council-1..pdfGoogle Scholar
Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region. 2008. Report of the eighth conference of parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, Fairbanks, USA, 12–14 August 2008. URL: http://www.arcticparl.org/_res/site/file/files%20from%208th%20conference/Conference_Report_Fairbanks_final.pdfGoogle Scholar
Polar bear agreement 1973. The 1973 agreement on the conservation of polar bears. International Legal Materials 13. 1974.Google Scholar
Reiersen, L-O., Wilson, S., and Kimstack, V.. 2003. Circumpolar perspectives on persistent organic pollutants: the Arctic monitoring and assessment programme. In: Downie, D.L., and Fenge, T. (editors). Northern lights against POPs: combating toxic threats in the Arctic. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Reykjavik declaration. 2004. On the occasion of the fourth ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council 2004. Reykjavik: Arctic Council. URL: http://arctic-council.org/filearchive/The%20signed%20Reykjavik%20Declaration.pdfGoogle Scholar
Saksina, T. 2009. New governance for the Arctic: is a new framework convention the solution? Presentation at the Arctic frontiers conference. 20 January 2009. URL: http://leo.infotek.no/uit4/Viewer/Viewers/Viewer320BR.aspx?mode=Default&peid=8e2512d0-622a-4eb0-b909-4db4ff154ce3&pid=ccd55641-675a-44fa-9501-750164248a90&playerType=WM7#Google Scholar
Støre, J.G. 2008. Arctic Governance in a global world: is it time for an Arctic Charter? URL: http://www.eu-norway.org/NR/rdonlyres/BEDA6CB4-7ADF-40A8-AB0A-EF-53CC1077D2/93513/arcticgovernanceJGS070508.pdf.Google Scholar
UNFCCC (United Nations framework convention on climate change). 1992. United Nations framework convention on climate change. The text is reproduced in 31 International Legal Materials 849 (1992). URL: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdfGoogle Scholar
United States. 2007. 110th Congress, 1st session. Senate Joint resolution 17. URL: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc/current_issues/Arctic/SJRes17%20as%20of%20Oct%202007.htmGoogle Scholar
United States. 2009. US Arctic region policy 2009. National security presidential directive – 66, Homeland security presidential directive HSPD – 25. 9 January 2009. Arctic region policy. URL: http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nspd/nspd-66.htmGoogle Scholar
Young, O. 2000. The structure of Arctic cooperation: solving problems/seizing opportunities. URL: http://www.arcticparl.org/_res/site/File/images/conf4_sac.pdfGoogle Scholar
Young, O. 2009. Arctic ocean governance: status and prospects. Presentation at the Arctic Frontiers conference, Tromsø, 21 January 2009. Presentation can be viewed via webcam. URL: http://leo.infotek.no/uit4/Viewer/Viewers/Viewer320BR.aspx?mode=Default&peid=01f5346e-8e05-45d1-9fd4-41dcfdf621e6&pid=cb0c95aa-c9c6-48b9-8e96-2b577bb01150&playerType=WM7Google Scholar