Beyond National Jurisdiction: Polar Regions

Discussions began among Arctic Circle nations in 1989 to formulate a strategy for protection of the fragile Arctic environment. The Arctic Council, formally established in 1996, is a high level intergovernmental forum to promote cooperation among the eight Arctic countries as well as Arctic indigenous communities and other inhabitants on issues of sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic.  Among the many challenges to be addressed in the Arctic, climate change is at the top of the list as rising temperatures have, among other things, spurred loss of sea ice, thereby affecting residents' lifestyles and livelihoods, as well as opening shipping routes and access to fisheries and natural resources below the seabed.  The high seas and deep seabed in the Arctic are governed by the UNCLOS.  Three binding treaties have been negotiated under the auspices of the Arctic Council:  the Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic (2011)[i]; the Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic (2013)[ii]; and an agreement in 2017 among nine nations and the European Union to place the central Arctic Ocean – 2.8 million square kilometers – off-limits to commercial fishers for at least 16 years.[iii]

The Antarctic consists of Earth's southernmost continent, Antarctica, surrounded by the Southern Ocean.  Antarctica, the fifth largest continent, is 98 percent covered by ice and hosts the geographic South Pole.  It is Earth's only continent without a native human population.  To defuse potential conflicts over claims to sovereignty to portions of the continent, in 1959 the 12 nations with interests in Antarctica at the time[iv] negotiated and signed the Antarctic Treaty. Rather than divide up the continent into areas of national jurisdiction, the treaty sets up shared sovereignty among the Parties over the continent and reserves the entire continent for peaceful purposes, including scientific investigation and cooperation, which has prompted the establishment of dozens of scientific research stations.  Since 1959, more than 50 countries have become Party to the treaty and several follow-on treaties have been negotiated to protect the Antarctic environment.[v]  As in the Arctic, climate change is causing Antarctic glaciers and sea ice to melt at alarming rates, adversely affecting endemic and other species (e.g., krill, penguins, seals and whales) and posing a threat to coastal communities around the globe due to sea level rise.

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