The law and policy for the Arctic are increasingly of international interest, largely due to the melting of the Arctic ice cap. Challenges of the Changing Arctic: Continental Shelf, Navigation, and Fisheries includes contributions from global specialists dealing with the geomorphologic context, maritime delimitation and specialized topics raised by promising oil and gas prospects, particularly in the extensive continental shelf presented by Russia to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Arctic shipping has entered a novel, untested phase with keen interest in the opening of ice free shipping lanes and proposed regulatory regimes. Fish in the North Atlantic are moving north disrupting historic fishing patterns as well as traditional fish stocks. Agreements on the allocation of shared fish stocks pose significant management challenges. Both littoral and non-littoral user nations are concerned with maritime security as well as search and rescue preparations given the anticipated increased use of the Arctic Ocean. These and many other of the most pressing issues are addressed in this important volume, making it a must-read for all those interested in environmental law and the law of the sea.

Over the last few years the Arctic has become a region of growing interest to the international community. Major environmental, economic, social, and security issues are all in evidence within its borders today. Many feel that there is an urgent need to establish an effective governance structure for the area. The Arctic Council has offered a basic forum for circumpolar consultation and cooperation over the past two decades. However, it has not been an easy undertaking and the organization has had to wrestle with a series of internal and external impediments that have hindered its forward progress. This volume explores the efforts of Sweden, a recent Chair of the Arctic Council, to build an enhanced framework for consensus-building and governance within the circumpolar region. It examines its efforts to provide focused leadership for the Arctic Council and to advance the environmental protection and sustainable development missions of the organization. It considers the various means by which Sweden utilized its position as chair of the Arctic Council to promote its program for action in both these areas. It also explores how this leadership position enabled it to foster necessary organizational reform within the body. The book gives new insight into how both the formal and informal 'powers of the chair' can be utilized to facilitate institutional growth and change. It also provides new and useful understanding of how a small country like Sweden can harness key elements of 'soft power' to advance its foreign policy objectives in the Arctic. The author closely followed the undertakings of the Swedish Chairmanship team over its two years at the helm of this emerging Arctic international organization. He witnessed its several successes and a few of its disappointments. The volume offers a behind the scene view of the challenges and opportunities faced by contemporary diplomats as they pursue their efforts at international organization.

The Arctic is changing. Temperatures in the region are increasing at twice the global average, causing a range of physical and environmental changes. Sea ice is thinning and receding, although the pattern of change is variable, while land ice is melting and flowing into the sea. Responding To A Changing Arctic (HL118) examines ways to respond to changes in the region. Processes in the Arctic have the potential to amplify climate change, causing further warming and further change; the exact nature and pattern of this feedback is difficult to predict and measure. Knowledge of many aspects of the Arctic environment, and how it is responding to change, is limited. The UK is the Arctic's nearest neighbor and has long standing political, economic and cultural ties with states and peoples in the region. Changes in the Arctic will affect the UK; at the same time, the UK can work with Arctic states and their citizens in responding to change.

The Changing Arctic and the European Union provides a balanced and up-to-date overview of the multidimensional change taking place in the Arctic regions. Against this background, the role of the European Union regarding Arctic developments is considered, including the ongoing process of formulating an umbrella EU Arctic policy. In particular, the themes of climate change, maritime transport, fisheries, offshore oil and gas extraction, mining, land use and sociocultural change are discussed. The book comprises primarily an updated and expanded version of the report Strategic Assessment of Development of the Arctic: An assessment conducted for the European Union, produced for the European Commission. The report was to a great extent based on the interaction with Arctic stakeholders.

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.

An accessible, engagingly written book on Arctic environmental change and cooperation by an author intimately involved in Arctic science and policy.

Global warming has had a dramatic impact on the Arctic environment, including the ice melt that has opened previously ice-covered waterways. State and non-state actors who look to the region and its resources with varied agendas have started to pay attention. Do new geopolitical dynamics point to a competitive and inherently conflictual “race for resources”? Or will the Arctic become a region governed by mutual benefit, international law, and the achievement of a widening array of cooperative arrangements among interested states and Indigenous peoples? As an Arctic nation Canada is not immune to the consequences of these transformations. In Canada and the Changing Arctic: Sovereignty, Security, and Stewardship, the authors, all leading commentators on Arctic affairs, grapple with fundamental questions about how Canada should craft a responsible and effective Northern strategy. They outline diverse paths to achieving sovereignty, security, and stewardship in Canada’s Arctic and in the broader circumpolar world. The changing Arctic region presents Canadians with daunting challenges and tremendous opportunities. This book will inspire continued debate on what Canada must do to protect its interests, project its values, and play a leadership role in the twenty-first-century Arctic. Forewords by Senator Hugh Segal and former Minister of Foreign Affairs and of National Defence Bill Graham.

Arctic marine ecosystems are among the most productive and most vulnerable in the world, both from an economic and ecological perspective of growing accessibility. The complexity of Arctic marine ecosystems and their location poses challenges for management, valuation, and the establishment of sound policy to protect them. This special issue of Temanord presents papers from a workshop devoted to this topic. In October 2013, a group of multidisciplinary experts on marine invasive species and the Arctic came together in Esbjerg, DK for a two-day workshop titled: “Marine Invasive Species in the Arctic: Management Issues.” Attendees of the workshop came from academic, governmental and scientific institutions in Denmark and the Faroe Islands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Canada, and the United States. This volume presents papers based on the presentations of the workshop speakers.