U N I V E R S I T Y
O F
B E R G E N
Faculty of Law
Arctic Council Update
COLP conference Seoul 2013
Professor Ernst Nordtveit
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Introduction
• Arctic a hot spot not only because of global warming, but
an exploding interest from the global community
• I will speak of the Arctic Council and try to outline the
recent development
• I refer to the extensive information that can be found on
the web: http://www.arctic-council.org/index.php/en/
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The Arctic Council
• Established by The Ottawa Declaration 1996
• A high level intergovernmental forum to provide a means
for promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction
among the Arctic States, with the involvement of the
Arctic Indigenous communities and other Arctic
inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular issues
of sustainable development and environmental
protection in the Arctic.
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Member States and Participants
• Members of the Arctic Council: Canada, Denmark (including the
Faroe Islands and Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia,
Sweden, and USA.
• Permanent Participants of the Arctic Council:
– Aleut International Association (AIA)
– Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC)
– Gwich’in Council International (GCI)
– Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC)
– Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North
(RAIPON)
– Saami Council
• Observer status in the Arctic Council is open to Non-arctic states,
inter-governmental and interparliamentary organizations, global and
regional non-governmental organizations.
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Arctic and The Arctic Council
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Observers and applicants
Permanent observers:
France, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom
Applicants for position as permanent observers:
1.
People's Republic of China
2.
Italian Republic
3.
State of Japan
4.
Republic of Korea
5.
Republic of Singapore
6.
Republic of India
7.
European Union
8.
Oceana
9.
Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP)
10. OSPAR Commission
11. Greenpeace
12. International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO)
13. World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
14. Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS)
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Organisation and work of the Council
• Rotating chairmanship between the eight members, concluded by a
ministerial meeting every second year.
• A meeting of deputy ministers between the ministerial meetings has
been established.
• A permanent Secretariat for The Arctic Council is under
establishment in Tromsø in order to start functioning from the start of
the Canadian chairmanship in 2013 (May).
• When Sweden is to hand over the chairmanship to Canda later this
month, the first cycle of chairmanships are finished.
• The Arctic Council are facing new challenges and might be at a
crossroad were important decisions on the future direction have to
be made.
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Challenges for The Arctic Council
• The Effects of Climate Change in the Arctic has become
the dominating challenge. Mitigation and adaption to the
effects of climate change and the problems and
opportunities it creates are the main focus.
• Lack of knowledge and uncertainty on the future
development.
• Possible a fundamental change of the character of the
area within a few decades.
• Decrease in the coverage of sea ice, snow cover and
permafrost and changes in biodiversity and ecosystems,
e.g. migration patterns and distribution of fish and
distributional shifts in other species and opens the area
for new activities.
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Latest Ice Cover report NASA MEaSURE
• While total extent of the ice cover was not at record low,
it remained well below average through March 2013.
• Levels of multiyear ice remain extremely low. The ice is
thinner, and satellite data suggests that first-year ice
may now cover the North Pole area for the first time
since winter 2008.
• The predictions are that much of the Arctic Ocean will be
free from ice in the summer in some decades.
• Opens the possibility for activity in areas that were
earlier impossible to access (fisheries, ship transport,
exploration for petroleum and minerals, tourism etc.)
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Ice cover in the Arctic Ocean
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Arctic Sea Ice Extent
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Division lines and claims in the Arctic
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International law of the Sea and the Arctic Council
• UNCLOS the basis for divisions of rights in the Arctic Ocean (Ilulisatdeclaration 2008, between the five coast-states to the Arctic Ocean
and the Tromsø-declaration 2009)
• Each State has jurisdiction within its EEZ and Continental shelf
• An area of international sea and probably seabed, depending on the
outcome of the decisions on the continental shelf claims in the area.
• Division lines and extension of Continental shelves are solved
according to International law, by negotiations or by the International
Continental Shelf Commission
• Conflict Norway-Russia solved by agreement in 2010 and a
provisional agreement between Canada and Denmark on the border
line in the Lincoln Sea was reached in 2012
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Russian-Norwegian Agreement
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New division line Russia-Norway in the Barents Sea
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Navigation in The Arctic
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Regulation of Navigation
• The Arctic Council has limited possibilities to regulate
navigation in the Arctic. The coastal states can regulate
navigation within the territorial sea and the EEZ as far as
international law allows.
• Standard setting is left to the IMO under the UNCLOS.
• The Arctic Council strategy in this area is to encourage
active cooperation within the International Maritime
Organization (IMO) on development of relevant
measures to reduce the environmental impacts of
shipping in Arctic waters,
• Encouraging continuous work in the IMO to update the
Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice-Covered
Waters
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AGREEMENT ON COOPERATION ON AERONAUTICAL AND
MARITIME SEARCH AND RESCUE IN THE ARCTIC
• First binding agreement concluded under the Arctic Council, in
Nuuk, May 2011 in force January 19th 2013.
• Parties are the eight members of the Arctic Council
• Response to the increase in aeronautical and maritime traffic and
other human activity in the Arctic and the challenges posed by harsh
Arctic conditions on search and rescue operations
• Linked to international agreements. The SAR Convention and the
Chicago Convention shall be used as the basis for conducting
search and rescue operations under the agreement.
• Each country responsible for regions defined in annex 1 to the
agreement
• Obligation to build capacity and competence, exchange of
information, joint training and evaluation of operations etc.
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ARCTIC OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS ACTIVITY
• The Arctic is believed to harbour huge deposits of oil and
gas
• Development of joint standards for petroleum activity
was an early priority. The Arctic Council Offshore Oil and
Gas Guidelines was last revised in 2009.
• The council urged all States to apply these Guidelines
throughout the Arctic as minimum standards in national
regulations.
• The discussion on development of safety standards after
the Macondo accident will also influence the discussion
of safety standards in the Arctic.
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Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response
• Task Force to make a proposal for an agreement, cochaired by the USA, Russia and Norway was established
in Nuuk 2011.
• It has now been decided that the end result of the
process will be a legally binding agreement. Ambition
that the agreement shall be ready for signing by
Ministers in Kiruna 2013.
• This will in case be the second binding agreement
negotiated under the Arctic Council
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Adaptation of Actions for a Changing Arctic (AACA)
• The Arctic is expected to undergo dramatic changes and also
variations in the coming decades.
• Climate variability and change, human demographic shifts,
industrialization, and increasing demands for energy and natural
resource extraction, with great socio-economic and policy effects
makes it necessary to obtain better predictions to inform the
development and implementation of adaptation actions by Arctic
Council members and Permanent Participants
• At the Deputy Ministers Meeting May 15th 2012 AACA was approved
as a Arctic Council project, in order to create a better foundation for
development of more informed, timely and responsive policy and
decision-making related to adaptation
• The work will be reported at the May 2013 Ministerial and shall be
completed by 2017.
• Might also influence future development of the organisation and
function of the Arctic Council.
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The Applications for Permanent Observer Status
• The Deputy Ministers have adopted a recommendation
on the observer applications. Is not yet public as far as I
have been able to track
• Will probably be decided at the Kiruna meeting
• Norwegian Minister of Foreign affairs has said in the
Parliament that Norway is positive to the applications, as
long as the Arctic Council criteria are met, such as
acceptance of the sovereign rights of the Arctic States,
Ocean law and UNCLOS as the foundation for the Arctic.
• Will make the Arctic Council more important as the arena
for discussion of Arctic related questions.
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Proposal for an additional political statement at Kiruna
• The Swedish chairmanship proposes that the Arctic
Council adopts a statement in May 2013 in addition to
the usual declarations .
• The Arctic Council is increasingly turning attention to
policy-relevant and action-oriented outcomes that
respond to our understanding of the Arctic region, and its
emerging challenges and opportunities.
• Kiruna conclude eight chairmanships and there might be
a momentum now to outline a strategic direction to
ensure focus and results for the forthcoming round of
chairmanships. It would improve the possibilities for the
Arctic Council to use its resources more efficiently and to
guide the working groups’ efforts.
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Purpose of the Statement
• To call for action and to demonstrate that the Arctic
states are responding and reacting to the pressing needs
of the region.
• Despite the many difficult challenges in the Arctic, the
Arctic states all agree on the importance of addressing
issues in cooperation and mutual understanding.
• The statement could further consolidate and
acknowledge the unique cooperative approach among
the Arctic states and Permanent Participants today and
in the future.
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Content of the Statement
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reaffirm the Ottawa Declaration
Recognize the important role of Permanent Participants in the work of the
Arctic Council
Recognize the changing context in the region since 1996
Recognize the important progress made in the first 16 years, including with
respect to enhanced scientific understanding of the region
Recognize Kiruna as a turning point – we are embarking on the second
cycle of chairmanships
Provide strategic direction to ensure focus and results with a set of
priorities, for example;
– Protecting the environment,
– An Arctic home,
– A safe Arctic,
– A prosperous Arctic
– Better knowledge of the Arctic
– A strong Arctic Council
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