Global Challenges in the Arctic Region Sovereignty, environment and geopolitical balance

Bringing together interconnected discussions to make explicit the complexity of the Arctic region, this book offers a legal discussion of the ongoing territorial disputes and challenges in order to frame their impact into the viability of different governance strategies that are available at the national, regional and international level.

One of the intrinsic features of the region is the difficulty in the determination of boundaries, responsibilities and interests. Against this background, sovereignty issues are intertwined with environmental and geopolitical issues that ultimately affect global strategic balances and international trade and, at the same time, influence national approaches to basic rights and organizational schemes regarding the protection of indigenous peoples and inhabitants of the region. This perspective lays the ground for further discussion, revolving around the main clusters of governance (focusing on the Arctic Council and the European Union, with the particular roles and interest of Arctic and non-Arctic states, and the impact on indigenous populations), environment (including the relevance of national regulatory schemes, and the intertwinement with concerns related to energy, or migration), strategy (concentrating in geopolitical realities and challenges analysed from different perspectives and focusing on different actors, and covering security and climate change related challenges).

This collection provides an avenue for parallel and converging research of complex realities from different disciplines, through the expertise of scholars from different latitudes.

1. Introduction

2. Why and How to Study Arctic Law?

Part I: Sovereignty Issues and International Law

3. Arctic Outer Continental Shelf

4. The Northwest and Northern Sea Route: Sovereignty and Responsibilities

5. The Position of the European Union on the Svalbard Waters

6. Stewardship Sovereignty, Sustainable Development and the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment: Injecting Environmental Values in International Sovereignty Law

7. Legal Status and Environmental Protection of the Arctic Sea-ice: European Perspectives

Part II: The Governance of the Artctic Region

8. The Arctic Council at Twenty: Cooperation between Governments in the Global Arctic

9. Geopolitics, Governance and Arctic Fisheries Politics

10. The Arctic Development: New Navigational Routes and Maritime Governance

Part III: The Human Dimension

11. Arctic Indigenous Peoples at European Courts. Issues conceding their effective judicial protection at the CJEU and at the ECtHR

12. Environmental Challenges for Arctic Peoples

13. Climate Change Induced Displacement: Migration as an Adaptation Strategy also in the Arctic?

Part IV: Environment and Resources

14. Knowledge and Natural Resources: a Crucial Connection for Local Benefits and Sustainable Arctic Development

15. EU–Greenland relations and sustainable development in the Arctic

16. The Effectiveness of Current Regulatory Models of Gas Flaring in Light of Black Carbon Emissions Reduction in the Arctic

Part V: Geopolitical and Security Challenges

17. From Cylinder to Sphere: the Impact of Climate Change in the Arctic beyond the Polar Circle

18. Security Challenges in the Arctic

19. Geopolitical Dynamics in the Arctic: Actors and Global Interests

20. Changing Foreign Policy Roles in the Changing Arctic

21. The Role(s) of China in the Arctic: Regional Governance and Foreseeable Challenges

22. Chinese Arctic Science Diplomacy: An Instrument for Achieving the Chinese Dream?

Elena Conde is Associate Professor of Public International Law at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.

Sara Iglesias Sánchez is Référendaire at the Court of Justice of the European Union, Luxembourg.