Environmental Security in the Arctic Ocean

This seminal book results from a NATO Advanced Research Workshop at the University of Cambridge with Russian co-directorship, enabling the first formal dialogue between NATO and Russia about security issues in the Arctic Ocean. Involving interdisciplinary participation with experts from 17 nations, including all of the Arctic states, this workshop itself reflects progress in Arctic cooperation and collaboration. Interests now are awakening globally to take advantage of extensive energy, shipping, fishing and tourism opportunities in the Arctic Ocean as it is being transformed from a permanent sea-ice cap to a seasonally ice-free sea. This environmental state-change is introducing inherent risks of political, economic and cultural instabilities that are centralized among the Arctic states and indigenous peoples with repercussions globally. Responding with urgency, environmental security is presented as an "integrated approach for assessing and responding to the risks as well as the opportunities generated by an environmental state-change." In this book diverse perspectives on environmental security in the Arctic Ocean are shared in chapters from high-level diplomats, parliamentarians and government officials of Arctic and non-Arctic states; leaders of Arctic indigenous peoples organizations; international law advisors from Arctic states as well as the United Nations; directors of inter-governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations; managers of multi-national corporations; political scientists, historians and economists; along with Earth system scientists and oceanographers. Building on the common arctic issues of sustainable development and environmental protection established by the Arctic Council environmental security offers an holistic approach to assess opportunities and risks as well as develop infrastructure responses with law of the sea as the key international legalframework to promote the peaceful uses of the Arctic Ocean. With vision for future generations, environmental security is a path to balance national interests and common interests in the Arctic Ocean for the lasting benefit of all.

The authoritative compilation of expert perspectives on environmental security Unique sharing of international, interdisciplinary and inclusive perspectives Practical strategies identified to promote cooperation and prevent conflict Urgency to balance environmental protection, economic prosperity and social equity emphasized Global challenge of balancing national interests and common interests highlighted

Contenu

Foreword.- Preface.- Acknowledgements.- Opening Remarks.- Environmental State-Change in the Arctic Ocean .- Diminishing Sea-Ice Cover in the Arctic Ocean.- Arctic Climate Change Security Challenges and Stewardship Opportunities.- Sustainable Development Considerations in the Arctic; N. Bock.- Arctic Change Impact Assessment: Setting the Stage.- Geopolitics of the Arctic Ocean.- Environmental Security in the Arctic Impacts on Indigenous Peoples.- United States Policy in the Arctic.- The Environmental Component of the National Maritime Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic Region.- Canada's Arctic Foreign Policy.- Perspectives from a Non-Arctic Nation: the Case of France.- Observations on the Evolution of NATO's Science Programme.- Arctic Futures: The Power of Ideas.- Risks of Instabilities from the Arctic Ocean State-Change .- Gaps in International Legal Frameworks for the Arctic Ocean.- Environmental Security Challenges and the Arctic Council's Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment.- Oil and Gas Development Risks and Opportunities in the Arctic Ocean.- The Arctic Ocean and UNCLOS Article 76: Are there any Commons?.- Cooperation or Conflict in the New Arctic? Too Simple of a Dichotomy.- The Security Implications of Climate Change in the Arctic Ocean.- Arctic Ocean Infrastructure Considerations .- Global Change, Northern Transformations, and a Changing Socio-economic Landscape.- Legal Aspects of Navigation through the Northern Sea Route.- Ensuring Safe, Secure and Reliable Shipping in the Arctic Ocean.- The Challenges of Oil Spill Response in the Arctic.- Transatlantic Policy Options to Address the Rapidly Changing Arctic.- Promoting Cooperation and Preventing Conflict in the Arctic Ocean .- Political Stability and Multi-Level Governance in the Arctic.- Arctic Science in the Common Interest;.- Achieving Environmental Security in the Arctic Ocean: The Institutional Challenges.- Can Competent AuthoritiesCooperate for the Common Good: Towards a Collective Arrangement in the North-East Atlantic?.- Cooperation Across Boundaries in the Arctic Ocean.- Cooperation in the Arctic Region.- Conclusions .- Appendices. - Index.