COMPLICATIONS IN
DELIMITING THE OUTER
CONTINENTAL SHELF
Ron Macnab
Geological Survey of Canada
(Retired)
DISCLAIMER
The contents of this presentation are the author’s
personal views only, and do not represent the
opinion of any government or agency.
COMPLICATIONS
• Scientific
– Data acquisition
– Data interpretation
– Conflicting views and findings
• Procedural
– Ratifications
– Submission deadlines
– CLCS timeline
• Administrative
– Boundary negotiations
– Deferred policies and decisions
• International
– Interests of other states
– Marine scientific research
COMPLICATIONS
• Scientific
– Data acquisition
– Data interpretation
– Conflicting views and findings
• Procedural
– Ratifications
– Submission deadlines
– CLCS timeline
• Administrative
– Boundary negotiations
– Deferred policies and decisions
• International
– Interests of other states
– Marine scientific research
NATURAL PROLONGATIONS IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN
Russia
Lomonosov
Ridge
Mendeleev
Ridge
Chukchi
Borderlands
Alpha
Ridge
Canada
THE ARCTIC OCEAN: MORPHOLOGICAL
BREAKS IN NATURAL PROLONGATIONS
THE INTERNATIONAL
BATHYMETRIC
CHART OF THE
ARCTIC OCEAN
(IBCAO)
Launched in 1997 in
anticipation of UNCLOS
Article 76, it is now the
standard portrayal of
seabed relief in the Arctic
IBCAO (2001)
A SEGMENT OF
THE LOMONOSOV
RIDGE, AS SEEN IN
NEW AND OLD
MAPS
GEBCO (1979)
DATA POINTS USED
IN CONSTRUCTING
THE INTERNATIONAL
BATHYMETRIC
CHART OF THE
ARCTIC OCEAN
(IBCAO)
Depth values acquired
along ship tracks and
extracted from handdrawn isobaths. Note
relative scarcity over the
central ocean basin
CANADA’S UNCLOS MAPPING IN THE
CENTRAL ARCTIC OCEAN
CCOM/JHC, UNH
US UNCLOS MAPPING IN THE CENTRAL
ARCTIC OCEAN
VOYAGE TO
THE FOOT OF
THE SLOPE…
USGS GAS & OIL ASSESSMENT
COMPLICATIONS
• Scientific
– Data acquisition
– Data interpretation
– Conflicting views and findings
• Procedural
– Ratifications
– Submission deadlines
– CLCS timeline
• Administrative
– Boundary negotiations
– Deferred policies and decisions
• International
– Interests of other states
– Marine scientific research
THE UNSYNCHRONIZED TIME FRAMES OF
ARTICLE 76 PROGRAMS IN THE ARCTIC
12 O’clock: Year of Submission
SUBMISSIONS AND PRELIMINARY
INFORMATION: STATUS ON MAY 13, 2009
Submissions delivered to CLCS
50¹
Recommendations adopted by CLCS
8
Submissions in hand & awaiting CLCS assessment
42¹
Preliminary Information delivered to CLCS
41²
Prospective submissions (pending deadlines)
10
Possible submissions (pending ratification and deadlines)
6
TOTAL OF ALL POTENTIAL SUBMISSIONS
99
¹ Whole, partial and joint submissions
² Multiple renderings from some countries
PROJECTED COMPLETION OF ARTICLE 76
PROCESS, WORLDWIDE
Updated from 2007 assessment,
assuming 99 submissions* after May 13, 2009
Number of
submissions
assessed per year
Required duration
of CLCS sessions
per year, in weeks
Projected year of
completion
2 (current rate)
9
2059
4
18
2034
8
36
2022
* All anticipated submissions, including those indicated by preliminary information
DELAYED COMPLETIONS: IMPLICATIONS
• For SPLOS and DOALOS
– Financing Commissioners’ emoluments and expenses
• By the UN?
• By sponsor states?
– Providing DOALOS with staff and technical resources
– Dealing with Commissioners’ other obligations
• For submitting states
– Deferring shelf-related decisions
• Bilateral boundary resolutions
• Resource exploitation
– Maintaining legal and technical teams on standby basis
– Coping with new developments that could alter outer limits
COMPLICATIONS
• Scientific
– Data acquisition
– Data interpretation
– Conflicting views and findings
• Procedural
– Ratifications
– Submission deadlines
– CLCS timeline
• Administrative
– Boundary negotiations
– Deferred policies and decisions
• International
– Interests of other states
– Marine scientific research
RUSSIA’S DIVE BENEATH THE NORTH POLE: A
DEMONSTRATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROWESS
Photo: Anatoly Sagalevitch and Sea Technology Magazine
PARTITIONING THE OUTER CONTINENTAL
SHELF: TWO PRIOR OBSERVATIONS
• This is not a technical issue – it requires decisions and
actions at political and diplomatic levels
• Various approaches are possible, but just two
hypothetical geometric options will be considered here:
– Sector lines - meridians converging at the North Pole
– Median lines - defined by successions of points
equidistant from coastlines of adjacent or opposite states
THE CENTRAL ARCTIC OCEAN: AN ENCLAVE
OF COMBINED CONTINENTAL SHELVES?
Prospective zone of
extended sovereign rights
Zones beyond coastal
state jurisdiction
ZONES DEFINED WITH SECTOR LINES
ZONES DEFINED BY MEDIAN LINES
Extract from the
THE ILULISSAT DECLARATION
Arctic Ocean Conference at Ilulissat, Greenland, May 2008
ILULISSAT
Google Maps
“Notably, the law of the sea
provides for important rights and
obligations concerning the
delineation of the outer limits of
the continental shelf, the
protection of the marine
environment, including icecovered areas, freedom of
navigation, marine scientific
research, and other uses of the
sea. We remain committed to this
legal framework and to the
orderly settlement of any possible
overlapping claims.”
COMPLICATIONS
• Scientific
– Data acquisition
– Data interpretation
– Conflicting views and findings
• Procedural
– Ratifications
– Submission deadlines
– CLCS timeline
• Administrative
– Boundary negotiations
– Deferred policies and decisions
• International
– Interests of other states
– Marine scientific research
THE EUROPEAN UNION
AND THE ARCTIC REGION
• European Parliament Resolution – Oct 9, 2008
– Concern about developments in the region
– Seeking EU participation
– Proposing treaty regime (similar to Antarctic Treaty)
• European Commission Report – Nov 20, 2008
– Concern about European security
– Urging coordination between EU & Arctic nations
– Proposing EU Arctic policy:
• environmental protection
• sustainable development
• multilateral governance
COASTAL STATES AND MARINE
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Governed by Part XIII of UNCLOS
• Within Territorial Seas
– Authority to regulate, authorize, and conduct MSR
• Within Exclusive Economic Zones
– Authority to regulate, authorize, and conduct MSR
– Expected to grant consent to others for peaceful MSR
• Within Extended Continental Shelves
– Authority to regulate MSR, particularly concerning
seabed
– Can withhold permission in designated areas
– Can impose administrative delays and constraints,
potentially hampering or preventing MSR
WHY INTERNATIONAL MSR IS NEEDED
IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN
• Arctic Ocean is still largely unknown
– Unique conditions = unique environment
• Polar night and day
• Seasonal ice coverage
– Setting is harsh yet vulnerable
• Potential for environmental degradation
• Retention and circulation of external contaminants
– Engine that drives global climate
• Issues transcend international boundaries
– Multinational cooperation is key to their resolution
– Collective action for the common good
A LEGAL IF NOT MORAL OBLIGATION
TO COOPERATE IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN
Part XI of UNCLOS: Cooperation among coastal states that
border enclosed or semi-enclosed seas
• Management, conservation, exploration and
exploitation of living resources
• Protection and preservation of the marine
environment
• Development of policies and programs of
scientific research
• Encouraging constructive involvement by other
interested states or organizations
CAN THE PRINCIPLES OF THE
ANTARCTIC TREATY SYSTEM APPLY
TO THE ARCTIC?
• Freedom of scientific investigation and
cooperation
• Exchange of planning information, of research
personnel, and of scientific observations and
results
• Conduct of substantial research activity such as
the establishment of a scientific station, or the
dispatch of a scientific expedition
CONCLUSIONS
• Complications are multi-faceted and will prevail over
different time frames
• Scientific complications (data collection and
interpretation) are short-term and generally tractable
• Procedural complications (dealing with CLCS) will prevail
over the intermediate term
• Administrative and international complications (resolving
boundaries, addressing the interests and concerns of
non-Arctic states) may be the most enduring
• Resolution will require goodwill and cooperation among
affected states
RON’S RULES FOR IMPLEMENTING
CONTINENTAL SHELVES AND FOR
DEALING WITH THE AFTERMATH
Simple precepts for building trust and goodwill
1. TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBOURS
2. LISTEN TO YOUR NEIGHBOURS
3. WORK WITH YOUR NEIGHBOURS
THANK YOU!