Introduction

The Arctic is a polar region located at the northernmost part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, the United States (Alaska), Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic nations are all members of the Arctic Council, as are organizations representing six indigenous populations. The Council operates on consensus basis, mostly dealing with environmental treaties and not addressing boundary or resource disputes. Though Arctic policy priorities differ, every Arctic nation is concerned about sovereignty/security, resource development, shipping routes, and environmental protection (climate change). Much work remains on regulatory agreements regarding shipping, tourism, and resource development in Arctic waters. Scientific research in the Arctic has long been a collaborative international effort.

Unlike Antarctica, a continent surrounded by the Southern Ocean, the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by continents. For this reason, it is governed in large part by the law of the sea, a body of unwritten but nevertheless binding rules of customary international law which were codified into the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Territorial disputes are absent in the Arctic, but, there are several existing or potential disputes over maritime boundaries and possible international straits that will likely become more important due to climate change, rising prices for natural resources, and new security concerns. As the Arctic is in crisis, international law has an important role to play, now and in the future.

Antarctica is Earth's fifth-largest and southernmost continent. It is located in the Antarctic region of the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice. It has no human population of its own, except for some permanent manned scientific research stations. Seven sovereign states have claimed sectors of land in Antarctica, but none of these claims have been recognized by other countries. In 1959 the Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington to establish Antarctica as a region of peace and cooperation, and to deal with issues relating to claims of sovereignty. Its primary purpose is to ensure “in the interests of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord”. The Treaty is at the core of a number of related agreements which, together with the measures taken under the Antarctic Treaty and related agreements are often called the Antarctic Treaty system.

This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for legal research on the Polar Regions. It provides the basic materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library's systematic classification → Polar regions in general and subject headings (keywords), Polar regions, Arctic, Antarctica and Antarctic Treaty (Washington, D.C., 1 December 1959) are instrumental for searching through the Catalogue. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.

Bibliography

New titles

Librarian's choice

• Hildebrand, L.P., Brigham, L.W., Johansson, T.M., (eds.), Sustainable Shipping in a Changing Arctic, Cham, Springer, 2018.

  

  This volume brings together multiple perspectives on both the changing Arctic environment and the challenges and opportunities it presents for the shipping sector. It argues for the adoption of a forward-looking agenda that respects the fragile and changing Arctic frontier. With the accelerated interest in and potential for new maritime trade routes, commercial transportation and natural resource development, the pressures on the changing Arctic marine environment will only increase. The International Maritime Organization Polar Code is an important step toward Arctic stewardship. This new volume serves as an important guide to this rapidly developing agenda. Addressing a range of aspects, it offers a valuable resource for academics, practitioners, environmentalists and affected authorities in the shipping industry alike.

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• Dale, B., Bay-Larsen, I., Skorstad, B., (eds.), The Will to Drill - Mining in Arctic Communities, Cham, Springer, 2018.

  

  This book focuses on the connections between mining activities, knowledge politics and the valuation of landscape in selected case sites in Russia, Greenland and Norway, whilst considering the interrelated aspects of industrialized, natural resource based development and environmental concerns in the Arctic. The case studies in these three different countries reveals that there are indeed multiple ‘Arctics’ – not least concerning the way extractive industries are received and perceived – and that national legislation, public awareness and economic alternatives are amongst the variables that influence to what extent environmental ramifications of mining are accepted.

  Through analysis of political discourses, legal documents, grey literature, discussions in local and national media and empirical material from in-site fieldwork, the authors seek to understand how debates about mining reveal more general conflicts and concerns about how to define sustainability.

  The book contributes to the overall debates on both extractive industries and development trends in the Arctic, and will as such be of interest for both established scholars and students – as well as policy makers and the public.

  The compilation of cases and variety of analytical perspectives will further stimulate the ongoing debates concerning the impacts of extractive industries on communities – both in the Arctic and beyond.

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• Kristensen, K.S. and J. Rahbek-Clemmensen, Greenland and the International Politics of a Changing Arctic: Postcolonial Paradiplomacy between High and Low Politics, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY, Routledge, 2018. Showcase item

  

  Greenland and the International Politics of a Changing Arctic examines the international politics of semi-independent Greenland in a changing and increasingly globalised Arctic. Without sovereign statehood, but with increased geopolitical importance, independent foreign policy ambitions, and a solidified self-image as a trailblazer for Arctic indigenous peoples' rights, Greenland is making its mark on the Arctic and is in turn affected - and empowered - by Arctic developments. The chapters in this collection analyse how a distinct Greenlandic foreign policy identity shapes political ends and means, how relations to its parent state of Denmark is both a burden and a resource, and how Greenlandic actors use and influence regional institutional settings as well as foreign states and commercial actors to produce an increasingly independent - if not sovereign - entity with aims and ambitions for regional change in the Arctic. This is the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of Greenland's international relations and how they are connected to wider Arctic politics. It will be essential reading for students and scholars interested in Arctic governance and security, international relations, sovereignty, geopolitics, paradiplomacy, indigenous affairs and anyone concerned with the political future of the Arctic.

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Database

Blogs

• The Impact of Offshore Oil Drilling in the Arctic

  In July 2015 the Obama administration has given Royal Dutch Shell PLC approval to begin with limited exploratory oil drilling off Alaska’s northwest coast, in the Chukchi Sea. The permits were granted despite the nationwide protest (where people in 13 states gathered for a “ShellNo” Day of Action) and protests by many environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Friends of the Earth. In this blog I will give a summary of the history of Arctic drilling and I will also discuss shortly the environmental concerns and technological and safety risks relating to offshore oil drilling in the Arctic.

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• Arctic Sovereignty: Icy Roads to the North Pole

  Canada, the US, Norway, Russia, and Denmark have been gathering scientific evidence for more than a decade in an effort to increase their continental shelf claims in the Arctic Ocean Region.The potential delimitation dispute between Canada, Russia and Denmark seems to focus on the Lomonosov Ridge. The North Pole is located about 400 nautical miles from the northernmost island of Canada, Denmark, Norway and the Russian Federation. Under international law coastal state rights over the water columns are limited to the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, using the state’s territorial sea baselines as starting point.

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• Hans Island : Crisis in the Arctic?

  Compared with other regions on the planet, the Arctic is warming faster. More of the Arctic is free of ice for longer periods. The possibilities for exploitation of natural resources and for control over Northern shipping lanes have prompted countries’ renewed interest in their competing claims to the region. Recently, Denmark (for Greenland) and Canada have clashed over their claims to a small, barren rock known as Hans Island.

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• Norway and Russian Federation Sign Maritime Delimitation Agreement

  In Murmansk on Wednesday 15th September 2010 Norway and the Russian Federation signed a treaty concerning the maritime delimitation and cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. The disputed territory covered 175,000 square km (67,600 sq miles), an area mainly in the Barents Sea between proven petroleum reserves on the Russian and Norwegian sides.

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• The International Politics of Whaling: Recent Developments

  Whales, large, mysterious, intelligent, and endangered. Has any mammal inspired such romantic images of the sea and love for nature as much as the whale, yet aroused such controversy in global environmental conservation? King of the Seas, symbol of the environmental movement, meat and oil for commercial whaling. Over the years, large-scale commercial whaling has depleted a number of whale populations to a significant extent, resulting in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) issuing a moratorium on whaling in 1986. Some recent developments will illustrate the highly controversial nature of whaling.

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• Arctic Council ratifies the Tromsø Declaration

  The Arctic Council meets at foreign minister level every second year, approving projects and guidelines. Due to the increased activity and interest in the Arctic, the Tromsø meeting decided that the Arctic Council from now on will meet at political level once a year. Denmark will take over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council from Norway.

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• Holiday on Ice?

  Tourism is an important source of income, prosperity and happiness for many people, but not everywhere. The increasing number of cruiseships, loaded with tourists, heading for Antarctica threatens the fragile ecosystem, habitat of many animals, in this region. Tourism to the frozen continent has increased nearly ten-fold in the last 15 years.

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Links

See also

More Research guides on Special Topics

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PPL keywords

• Antarctic Treaty
• Antarctica
• Arctic
• Arctic Council
• Arctic Ocean
• Polar regions

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