Some international agreements and declarations have been specifically designed for addressing issues concerning the Arctic, while several others apply globally but are particularly relevant in the region. Analysis of these both hard and soft law instruments along with other disciplines, is a key for understanding Arctic Governance and Cooperation, as outlined by the Polar Law Institute.
The concept of Polar law and the idea of a programme of legal education with some of the core subjects of what can be defined as Polar law was already being discussed when the first steps were taken towards a full blown legal education at the University of Akureyri (UNAK) around the turn of the millennium. When the first group of students finished their BA-degree in 2006, the concept of Polar law was developed and given a central place in the research objectives and teaching of the Faculty. The Faculty held a preparatory conference in 2007 with many international experts, including Professor Nigel Bankes who, in 2010, would be only the third scholar ever to be awarded an honorary doctorate from UNAK. The masters programme in Polar law was launched in 2008. This was taking place at same time as domestic and international interest in the Arctic increased heavily. The Polar law initiatives at UNAK were amongst dozens connected to the Fourth International Polar Year (2007-08).
Binding International Agreements:
SOVEREIGNTY
Svalbard Treaty – Paris (F) 1920
Text
Parties: A total of 43 countries are registered as parties to the Svalbard treaty, including all 8 Arctic States.
Website: https://www.sysselmannen.no/en/Toppmeny/About-Svalbard/Laws-and-regulations/Svalbard-Treaty/
The Svalbard Treaty was signed in Paris on 9 February 1920. The treaty provides for Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard, while at the same time providing for certain rights for the other signatories.
HUMAN AND INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination – New York (U.S.) 1965
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Website: https://www.ohchr.org/
The Convention defines “racial discrimination” as: ‘any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life’ (article 1). The Convention requires States parties, at all levels, to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination and to prohibit any form of racial discrimination by any persons, groups or organizations (article 2), and to adopt measures to prohibit any forms of dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, incitement to racial discrimination and acts of violence and incitement of such acts, and any form of assistance to such activities (article 4). (Source: World Health Organization)
UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) - New York, US, 1966
UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICCPR) – New York, US, 1966
The ICESCR aims to ensure the protection of economic, social and cultural rights including: the right to self-determination of all peoples (article 1); the right to non-discrimination based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status (article 2); the equal right of men and women to enjoy the rights in the ICESCR (article 3); the right to work (articles 6–7); the right to form and join trade unions (article 8); the right to social security (article 9); protection and assistance to the family (article 10); the right to an adequate standard of living (article 11); the right to health (article 12); the right to education (articles 13–14); and the right to cultural freedoms (article 15). (Source: World Health Organization)
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement
ILO C169 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, (ILO Convention No. 169 or C169), 1989 – Geneva, (Z), 1989
The ILO has been engaged with indigenous and tribal peoples’ issues since the 1920s. It is responsible for the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), the only international treaty open for ratification that deals exclusively with the rights of these peoples.
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: Only Norway and Denmark are part to the agreement
Website
ENVIRONMENT
The Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution – Geneva, Switzerland, 1979
Since 1979 the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution has addressed some of the major environmental problems of the UNECE region through scientific collaboration and policy negotiation. The Convention has been extended by eight protocols that identify specific measures to be taken by Parties to cut their emissions of air pollutants.
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement
Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo convention) – Espoo, Finland, 1991
The Espoo (EIA) Convention sets out the obligations of Parties to assess the environmental impact of certain activities at an early stage of planning. It also lays down the general obligation of States to notify and consult each other on all major projects under consideration that are likely to have a significant adverse environmental impact across boundaries.
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement, but Iceland, United States, Russian Federation, which signed but did not ratify
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, ((UNFCCC) – New York City, US 1992
The UNFCCC is a “Rio Convention”, one of three adopted at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992. Its sister Rio Conventions are the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification. The three are intrinsically linked. It is in this context that the Joint Liaison Group was set up to boost cooperation among the three Conventions, with the ultimate aim of developing synergies in their activities on issues of mutual concern. It now also incorporates the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
Preventing “dangerous” human interference with the climate system is the ultimate aim of the UNFCCC
Text
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement
Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Kyoto Protocol) – Kyoto, Japan, 1997
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.
Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities."
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2001, and are referred to as the "Marrakesh Accords." Its first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012.
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement, but United States did not ratify it while Canada withdrew.
Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention and for the first time brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement, but Russia did not ratify it and Greenland is excluded.
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants – Stockholm, Sweden 2001
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife, and have harmful impacts on human health or on the environment
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement, but United States which did not ratify.
UNEP Minamata Convention on Mercury
Kunamoto, Japan, 2013
United Nations
The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. It was agreed at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on mercury in Geneva, Switzerland at 7 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, 19 January 2013 and adopted later that year on 10 October 2013 at a Diplomatic Conference (Conference of Plenipotentiaries), held in Kumamoto, Japan.
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement, but Russia which did not ratify.
FLORA & FAUNA
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES or Washington Convention) – Washington, US, 1973
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement
Convention on Biological Diversity – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 1992
United Nations
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force on 29 December 1993. It has 3 main objectives:
- The conservation of biological diversity
- The sustainable use of the components of biological diversity
- The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement but the United States did not ratify
FISHERIES
The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling – Washington, US, 1946
The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was signed in 1946 and it is the International Whaling Commission’s founding document.
The Convention includes a legally binding Schedule which, amongst other things, sets out catch limits for commercial and aboriginal subsistence whaling. The Schedule is an integral part of the Convention, but its provisions, for example catch limits, may be amended by the Commission. In practice, amendments to the Schedule are almost always agreed at the Commission’s biennial meetings.
Website
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part to the agreement but Canada
MARITIME
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – Montego Bay, Jamaica, 1982
United Nations
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea lays down a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world's oceans and seas establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources. It enshrines the notion that all problems of ocean space are closely interrelated and need to be addressed as a whole.
Status of the Agreement and Parties
Arctic States: All Arctic States are part of the convention but the US.
Website
International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 – London, UK, 2004
The Ballast Water Management Convention, adopted in 2004, aims to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another, by establishing standards and procedures for the management and control of ships' ballast water and sediments
Under the Convention, all ships in international traffic are required to manage their ballast water and sediments to a certain standard, according to a ship-specific ballast water management plan. All ships will also have to carry a ballast water record book and an international ballast water management certificate. The ballast water management standards will be phased in over a period of time. As an intermediate solution, ships should exchange ballast water mid-ocean. However, eventually most ships will need to install an on-board ballast water treatment system.
International non-binding Declarations:
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Text
Website: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html
Arctic States: U.S. voted against, Russian Federation abstained
“The Declaration is the most comprehensive statement of the rights of indigenous peoples ever developed, giving prominence to collective rights to a degree unprecedented in international human rights law. The adoption of this instrument is the clearest indication yet that the international community is committing itself to the protection of the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples” (www.un.org).
Regional Agreements Signed under the Auspices of the Arctic Council:
Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic
Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic (SAR or Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement) – Nuuk, (GL) 2011
Text
Parties: the 8 Arctic states
Website: arctic-council.org
This is the first agreement signed under the auspices of the Arctic Council. As defined in article 2, its objective “is to strengthen aeronautical and maritime search and rescue cooperation and coordination in the Arctic”.
Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic - MOSPA Agreement
Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic (MOSPA Agreement) – Kiruna, (SE) 2013
Parties: the 8 Arctic states.
Website: arctic-council.org
As defined in article 1, the objective of this Agreement is to strengthen cooperation, coordination and mutual assistance among the Parties on oil pollution preparedness and response in the Arctic in order to protect the marine environment from pollution by oil”.
Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation
The Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation – FAIRBANKS, 2011
As defined in article 2, “the purpose of this Agreement is to enhance cooperation in Scientific Activities in order to increase effectiveness and efficiency in the development of scientific knowledge about the Arctic.
Parties: the 8 Arctic states.
Binding Regional Agreements:
FAUNA & FLORA
Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears – Oslo, Norway, 1973
In 1973, Canada, Denmark, Norway, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics signed the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears. The representatives of the Parties (Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the United States) note that at that time the largest threat to the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) was over-hunting, which had led to the severe depletion of some of the subpopulations within their range. As a result of coordinated international efforts and effective management actions by the Range States, polar bear numbers in some previously depressed populations have grown.
Arctic States: Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States
FISHERIES
International Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean – ILULISSAT, Greenland 2018
This agreement provides a framework for all signatories to cooperate to better understand the area’s ecosystems, and to prevent commercial fishing from occurring until adequate scientific information is available to inform management measures.
This agreement provides a framework for parties to:
- take into account Indigenous and local knowledge
- cooperate in science and research in the central Arctic Ocean
- establish appropriate conservation and management measures
- ensure the engagement and participation of Arctic Indigenous peoples
PARTIES: China, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union
Arctic States: Russia, Iceland, Norway, , United States of America, Denmark (in respect of Greenland and the Faroe Islands)
MARITIME
IMO – International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code) 2015 – London, UK, 2014
The Polar Code is intended to cover the full range of shipping-related matters relevant to navigation in waters surrounding the two poles – ship design, construction and equipment; operational and training concerns; search and rescue; and, equally important, the protection of the unique environment and eco-systems of the polar regions. The Polar Code covers the full range of design, construction, equipment, operational, training, search and rescue and environmental protection matters relevant to ships operating in the inhospitable waters surrounding the two poles.
Non-binding Regional Declarations:
Ilulissat Declaration
Ilulissat Declaration – Nuuk, GL, 2008
Arctic States: Canada, Kingdom of Denmark, Norway, Russian Federation, US.
“The framework provides a solid foundation for responsible management by the five coastal States and other users of this Ocean through national implementation and application of relevant provisions”.
Ottawa Declaration
Declaration on the Establishment of The Arctic Council (Ottawa Declaration) – Ottawa, Canada, 1996
Arctic States: all Arctic states
Website: arctic-council.org
The Ottawa Declaration establishes the Arctic Council.