Publications
Check out the New Arctic Online Database (ARCTIS)
The ARCTIS Online Database (Arctic Resources & Transportation Information System) is a new searchable online database on shipping in Arctic waters, transportation infrastructure, mineral and energy resources, and innovative logistics solutions in the Arctic. The database is developed by the Centre for High North Logistics (CHNL) in North Norway. Read more…
Setting up International Arctic Governance
By our Senior Adviser Lev Voronkov, Moscow
The Arctic zone is extremely rich in mineral, hydrocarbon and biological resources. The U.S. Geological Survey states the “extensive Arctic continental shelves may constitute the geographically largest unexplored prospective area for petroleum remaining on Earth.” The survey also estimates that the Arctic holds 30 percent of the world’s natural gas and 13 percent of its oil. Most of the resources in the area are under the control of the Arctic coastal states. The 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea assigned Denmark, Canada, Norway and Russia part of the Arctic shelf and an ex clusive economic zone extending 200 nautical miles from their borders. No country outside the Arctic officially denies the legal rights of the Arctic coastal states, yet neither do such countries readily accept the current state of affairs. Read more…
Tipping Over into 2013
The ice is melting quickly, a global political sclerosis on climate change issues is being offset by a massive influx of newcomers of the state and non-state variety, and the Asians are on the scene. In 2012 we have witnessed some significant developments in the Circumpolar North, and Arctic Forum Foundation (AFF) has been engaged throughout. With the addition of new actors, and the realization that the Arctic era is almost upon us, the AFF role as advocate and facilitator in the Arctic arena becomes ever more necessary. Read more…
The delimitation process in the Central Arctic Seabed: Sovereign rights or a condominium or res communis omnium?
This paper focuses briefly on the positions and practices of the Arctic coastal States within the ongoing process of delineation of the outer limits of their continental shelves in the Arctic seabed. Namely, it particularly takes into account the seabed under the North Pole (the Lomonosov ridge) rich with energy resources which stretch across the Arctic Ocean and separate the Amerasian Basin from the Eurasian Basin. Read more…
Book Launch: Arctic Reflections
Arctic Forum Foundation Fellow, Christy Hehir, and Luka Tomac (Croatia) joined forces to create a moving and insightful book capturing the experiences of Svalbard, as a part of an expedition organised by the British Council and United Nations Environmental Programme GRID – Arendal and funded by Youth in Action. Read more…