Polar Law Symposium 2008 - Akureyri

THE PURPOSE OF THE SYMPOSIUM

 The first Polar Law Symposium occurred at the end of the International Polar Year and its purpose was to bring together the world’s leading scholars in international law and policy to identify emerging and re-emerging issues in international law and policy that relate to the Polar Regions (Arctic and Antarctica), and to map out a research agenda for future research beyond the International Polar Year.

THE 2008 POLAR LAW SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM

Professor Thorsteinn GunnarssonRector, University of Akureyri. 'Words of welcome'

 H.E. MR. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of the Republic of Iceland. 'Opening Keynote Address'

Sigrún Björk Jakobsdottir, Mayor of Akureyri. 'Welcome to Akureyri'

Associate Professor Sigurður Kristinsson, Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, University of Akureyri. 'Welcome from the Faculty'

DR Bakary Kante, Director of the Division of Environmental Law and Conventions, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). ‘Challenges for the Changing Polar Environments’

Professor A.H. Zakri, Director, United Nations University- Institute of Advanced Studies. ‘Setting the scene-the purpose of the symposium and what we hope to achieve’

THEME I-CHALLENGES FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIODIVERSITY AND WILDERNESS IN THE POLAR REGIONS

Professor Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom. ‘So Much Law so Little Protection’

DR. Alan D. Hemmings, University of Canterbury, New Zealand and University of Tasmania, Australia. ‘From the new Geopolitics of Resources to Nanotechnology: Emerging Challenges of Globalism in Antarctica’

DR. Kees Bastmeijer, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. ‘Protecting Polar Wilderness Values: Just a Western Philosophical Idea or a Useful Concept for Polar Law and Policy Development?’

Professor Michael Jeffery QC, Centre for Environmental Law, Macquarie University, Australia. ‘Terrestrial Area Management in Polar Regions: Applying the Ecosystem-Based Approach to the Coalface of Climate Change’

MS Kassie Siegel, Centre for Biological Diversity, USA. ‘Polar Bears, Penguins and the United States Endangered Species Act: The Role of Domestic Wildlife Law in Polar Biodiversity Protection'

DR. David Leary, United Nations University- Institute of Advanced Studies, Japan. ‘Bioprospecting in Antarctica and the Arctic. Common challenges?’

THEME II-SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Professor Nigel Bankes, University of Calgary, Canada. ‘Land claims and self government arrangements in Arctic Canada in light of International Human Rights Norms’

Professor Gudmundur Alfredsson, University of Akureyri, Iceland. ‘Human Rights in the Arctic’

Professor Asbjörn Eide, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Norway. ‘Indigenous self-government and the right to land and natural resources’

Joint paper by DR. Natalia Loukacheva, University of Akureyri, Iceland and Professor Matthew Garfield, University of Akureyri, Iceland and Former Chair of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, Canada. ‘Sustainable Human Rights and Governance? The Quest of an Arctic Entity in Transition’

Professor Donna Craig, Centre for Environmental Law, Macquarie University, Australia. ‘Implementing Sustainable Development in the Arctic: What Principles Should Guide Environmental Governance in Traditional Areas of Indigenous Peoples?’

THEME III-ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE IN THE POLAR REGIONS

Professor David Vanderzwaag, Dalhousie University, Canada. ‘Governance of Arctic Marine Shipping: A Preview from the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA)’

DR. Robin Warner, Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, University of Wollongong, Australia. ‘Charting a Sustainable Course through Changing Arctic Waters’

DR. Olav Schram Stokke, Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway. ‘Protecting the Arctic environment: the interplay of global and regional regimes’

Professor Tullio Scovazzi, University of Milan, Italy. ‘Legal Issues Relating to Navigation through Arctic Waters’

DR. Tatiana Saksina, Arctic Governance Officer, WWF International Arctic Programme. ‘Creating a New Future for the Arctic: Is a New Framework Convention the Solution?’

Sandra Potter, School of Geography & Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania, Australia'Protecting Antarctica from non-indigenous species: the imperatives and the impediments’

DR. Arie Trouwborst, Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea, Utrecht University‘Polar governance: a bird's-eye view’

MR Daniel OwenBarrister, Fenners Chambers, Cambridge, United Kingdom. 'The outer continental shelf: opportunities for marine environmental protection in polar regions’

THEME IV-EMERGENT AND RE-EMERGING JURISDICTIONAL ISSUES IN THE POLAR REGIONS

DR. Martin Pratt, Director of Research International Boundaries Research Unit, Department of Geography, Durham University, United Kingdom. ‘Understanding what's at stake: mapping and presenting jurisdictional issues in the Polar regions'

Professor Rosemary Rayfuse, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Australia. ‘Warm Waters and Cold Shoulders: Jostling for Jurisdiction in Polar Oceans’

Professor Timo Koivurova, Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Finland. ‘Do the continental shelf claims challenge the commons regimes in the Polar regions?’

MR Andrew Serdy, University of Southampton, United Kingdom. ‘Reactions and overreactions to the Russian flag on the seabed at the North Pole’

Professor Paul Berkman, Fulbright Distinguished Scholar, Cambridge University. ‘Arctic State-Changes: Self Interest or Common Interest’

WORKSHOP SESSION AND DEVELOPMENT OF RECOMENDATIONS

Based on the papers presented and subsequent discussion the workshop session addressed these questions:

(1) What are the main emerging and re-emerging issues in international law and policy relating to the Polar Regions warranting international action?

(2) Are the current international legal and policy systems able to address these issues?

(3) What issues require immediate action by the international community?

(4) What issues will require action by the international community in the longer term?

(5) What steps should countries take to address these issues?

(6) Which of these issues warrant further detailed research by legal scholars and other disciplines?