International Law and the Arctic

Sets out the international law relevant to the Arctic, from indigenous peoples to environmental protection to oil and gas exploration.

Michael Byers (Author)

9781107470903, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 July 2014

342 pages, 1 map
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.48 kg

'It should definitively be on the reading list of policymakers across the Arctic region. For everybody interested in the governance of the Arctic Ocean, this book is highly recommended.' Stefan Kirchner, Ocean Yearbook 36

Climate change and rising oil prices have thrust the Arctic to the top of the foreign policy agenda and raised difficult issues of sovereignty, security and environmental protection. Improved access for shipping and resource development is leading to new international rules on safety, pollution prevention and emergency response. Around the Arctic, maritime boundary disputes are being negotiated and resolved, and new international institutions, such as the Arctic Council, are mediating deep-rooted tensions between Russia and NATO and between nation states and indigenous peoples. International Law and the Arctic explains these developments and reveals a strong trend towards international cooperation and law-making. It thus contradicts the widespread misconception that the Arctic is an unregulated zone of potential conflict.

1. Territory
2. Maritime boundaries
3. Beaufort Sea boundary
4. Extended continental shelves
5. Arctic straits
6. Environmental protection
7. Indigenous peoples
8. Security.

Subject Areas: International environmental law [LBBP], Public international law [LBB], Law [L], International relations [JPS]