expertise with the flexibility and accessibility offered by soft law instruments, can
play an important role in encouraging Arctic nations to combat land-based pollution
of the seas. Given that Arctic States also have coastlines outside the Arctic, such
holistic efforts could yield benefits far beyond the Arctic and could help the Arctic
Council to solidify its position as a policy-shaping institution based on scientific and
local expertise and cooperation across political divides.
The potential holistic nature of the work of the AC in this regard is not only
reflected in the range of issues but also in the way Arctic governance can be shaped
by the people who live in the Arctic. In light of the historical disregard for
indigenous communities in the Arctic in particular, the active inclusion of indigenous peoples in the working processes of the Arctic Council and their involvement in
all marine policy activities allows for a protection of the Arctic marine environment
not only as an important environmental space but also in recognition of the relevance
of the natural environment for the people who live in the Arctic and in particular the
indigenous communities along the coasts of the Arctic Ocean. The Council also has
advanced ecosystem-based marine management in many ways.
84
4 Regulation of the Arctic Waters: Looking to the Future
The Arctic Council’s approach in recent years has been to develop legal norms that
govern the Arctic, including ocean areas, through international treaties drafted under
its auspices. This marks an evolution, rather than a deviation. From its soft law
origins, the AC’s work has moved to hard law, albeit without the AC itself taking
over an actual legislative role. In material terms, the focus of the AC has been on
specific problems for which it has a specific expertise gained through the efforts of
the working groups and the attention to the people who live in the Arctic. This
includes issues that are explicitly relevant for the Arctic Ocean (such as oil spill
response) but also topics (such as SAR and science cooperation) that are of a wider
interest and that can also be relevant from a maritime perspective.
Even though the AC’s work is not limited to maritime issues, in sum the efforts
undertaken by the AC, both directly by the AC and by the AC member States using
other fora such as the IMO have created what might be considered the seed for a
future Arctic Ocean regional seas program in anything but name.
It seems a reasonable assumption that the AC will continue this successful
approach. The creation of a specific AC marine commission has been proposed
85
but its actual establishment is not yet certain, though the thematic and institutional
approaches chosen by the AC show promise. In the future, the AC will be able to
build on this experience and to utilize the same approach to help bring to life more
international treaties with relevance for the Arctic.
84 See e.g. Arctic Council (2013).
85 Arctic Council (2017), para. 12; cf. De Lucia et al. (2018), p. 265.
4 The Arctic Ocean: Are We Ready to Govern a New Ocean?
73
play an important role in encouraging Arctic nations to combat land-based pollution
of the seas. Given that Arctic States also have coastlines outside the Arctic, such
holistic efforts could yield benefits far beyond the Arctic and could help the Arctic
Council to solidify its position as a policy-shaping institution based on scientific and
local expertise and cooperation across political divides.
The potential holistic nature of the work of the AC in this regard is not only
reflected in the range of issues but also in the way Arctic governance can be shaped
by the people who live in the Arctic. In light of the historical disregard for
indigenous communities in the Arctic in particular, the active inclusion of indigenous peoples in the working processes of the Arctic Council and their involvement in
all marine policy activities allows for a protection of the Arctic marine environment
not only as an important environmental space but also in recognition of the relevance
of the natural environment for the people who live in the Arctic and in particular the
indigenous communities along the coasts of the Arctic Ocean. The Council also has
advanced ecosystem-based marine management in many ways.
84
4 Regulation of the Arctic Waters: Looking to the Future
The Arctic Council’s approach in recent years has been to develop legal norms that
govern the Arctic, including ocean areas, through international treaties drafted under
its auspices. This marks an evolution, rather than a deviation. From its soft law
origins, the AC’s work has moved to hard law, albeit without the AC itself taking
over an actual legislative role. In material terms, the focus of the AC has been on
specific problems for which it has a specific expertise gained through the efforts of
the working groups and the attention to the people who live in the Arctic. This
includes issues that are explicitly relevant for the Arctic Ocean (such as oil spill
response) but also topics (such as SAR and science cooperation) that are of a wider
interest and that can also be relevant from a maritime perspective.
Even though the AC’s work is not limited to maritime issues, in sum the efforts
undertaken by the AC, both directly by the AC and by the AC member States using
other fora such as the IMO have created what might be considered the seed for a
future Arctic Ocean regional seas program in anything but name.
It seems a reasonable assumption that the AC will continue this successful
approach. The creation of a specific AC marine commission has been proposed
85
but its actual establishment is not yet certain, though the thematic and institutional
approaches chosen by the AC show promise. In the future, the AC will be able to
build on this experience and to utilize the same approach to help bring to life more
international treaties with relevance for the Arctic.
84 See e.g. Arctic Council (2013).
85 Arctic Council (2017), para. 12; cf. De Lucia et al. (2018), p. 265.
4 The Arctic Ocean: Are We Ready to Govern a New Ocean?
73