Many readers of this blog will be familiar with The Rule of Law Committee for the Oceans, directed by Caitlyn Antrim. Earlier this week ROLCO re-launched its website, which is now available at oceanlaw.org. The site covers a much broader range of topics than the Arctic Oceans, but it provides essential context for the importance of the Law of the Sea Convention to the Arctic.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Canada's Partial Submission (Atlantic) and Preliminary Indication (Arctic) to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf/CLCS
Given last week's notable events surrounding the Canadian Submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), your blogger is resurfacing before her promised 2014 re-start date to post a bare minimum of some of the most helpful links on the topic. Regular posts will resume in the New Year, with the end of your blogger's sabbatical and her return from Alaska.
December 7, 2013, was the ten year anniversary of Canada joining the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Under Convention rules, December 6, 2013, was Canada's deadline for submitting information to the CLCS on the limits of the Canadian continental shelf.
Canadian scientists and diplomats have been laying the groundwork for Canada's CLCS submission for approximately a decade. Canada's partial submission to the CLCS on December 6 covered Atlantic Canada [link to the Executive Summary in English or French] but not the Arctic Ocean. Instead, Canada filed Preliminary Information for the Arctic region [link to the PI in English or French]. Some had anticipated that Canada would include both regions in one submission but media reports surfaced last week that Prime Minister Harper had requested further information regarding the relationship between North Pole and the Canadian submission. According to media reports the North Pole was not included in the continental shelf information to which the Prime Minister was reacting. The Canadian Broadcasting Company, reporting on a December 9, 2013, news conference, quoted Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird explaining Canada's approach:
"We have asked our officials and scientists to do additional work and
necessary work to ensure that a submission for the full extent of the
continental shelf in the Arctic includes Canada's claim to the North
Pole," said Baird.
Several Canada-based media sources include interpretations of last week's events from two Canadian scholars of international policy, Michael Byers and Rob Hubert. The Christian Science Monitor interprets Russian Prime Minister Putin's order last week to increase military presence in the Arctic as a direct response to the Canadian Preliminary Information at the CLCS regarding the Arctic. By contrast, Xinhua and the India Daily News reflect a more measured approach, both quoting Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Sergei Donskoy, as saying:
'Actual delimitation of the continental shelf in the Northern Ocean is
not today's or even tomorrow's issue.' Donskoy said Russia, Canada and Denmark have the common interest of
persuading the CLCS of the geological composition of the Northern
Ocean's bed.
Russia and the Kingdom of Denmark, by virtue of Greenland, are considered to have the potential to include the North Pole in their submissions to the CLCS. A cursory listing of Arctic-relevant submissions to date, and anticipated future submissions, is provided by the Arctic Institute of North America.
The CLCS will consider Canada's Partial Submission for the Atlantic region in summer 2014, as the CLCS indicated in its Statement regarding the Partial Submission:
"The consideration of the partial submission made by Canada will be
included in the provisional agenda of the thirty-fifth session of the
Commission to be held during July-August 2014."
NOAA Arctic Report Card issued today at American Geophysical Union
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2013 Arctic Report Card Released Today at AGU Fall Meeting
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San Francisco, CA - While fewer snow and ice
extremes occurred in 2013 relative to 2012, and environmental
observations in Alaska and throughout the Arctic showed annual and
regional variability, the impact of the region's persistent,
long-term warming trend remains demonstrable, according to the
just-released 2013 update to the
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/. The Report Card
is a peer-reviewed source for environmental information on the current
state of the Arctic relative to historical records.
The release of the 2013 Report Card was announced today at the
American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting at a 9:00 am press conference
at
Moscone Center West (room 3001A) in San Francisco.
Dr. Martin Jeffries, science advisor at the US Arctic
Research Commission and principal editor of the report, was on the panel
that described some of the highlights of 2013 in the Arctic.
Key observations revealed in the Report Card update show:
- Snow extent in May 2013 reached a new record low in Eurasia, due to above average air temperatures, while Northern Hemisphere-wide snow extent was below average for spring (April, May, June).
- Summer surface air temperatures were particularly low across the central Arctic Ocean, northern Canada and Greenland relative to 2007-2012 (a period of pronounced summer sea ice retreat), and were somewhat lower than the long-term average of 1981-2010.
- Minimum sea ice extent in September 2013 was not as low as the record minimum of 2012, but was nevertheless the sixth lowest since observations began in 1979 despite the relatively cool summer of 2013. The seven lowest ice extent minima have occurred in the last seven years, 2007-2013.
- Arctic tundra vegetation greenness (a measure of biological productivity) and growing season length have continued to increase since observations began in 1982.
- Large land mammals convey a mixed message, with Muskox numbers stable/increasing since the 1970s, while many caribou and reindeer herds currently have unusually low populations for the period 1970-2013.
- Changes in fish and bottom dwelling organisms include continued northward migration of species not previously seen in the Arctic.
"The Arctic Report Card illustrates the importance of long-term
observations of the Arctic environment," said Fran Ulmer, Chair, US
Arctic Research Commission. "We need an integrated, pan-Arctic observing
system that helps us better understand this sensitive
region's current changes and make improved projections for what the
future holds."
The 2013 Report Card comprises 18 essays prepared by an
international team of 147 authors from 14 different countries. It is
intended for a wide audience, including scientists, teachers, students,
decision-makers and the general public interested in the
Arctic environment and science.
USARC's mission is to develop and recommend US Arctic research
policy to the President and Congress and to build cooperative links in
Arctic research within the federal government, with Arctic residents,
the State of Alaska, researchers and international
partners. Visit the USARC at www.arctic.gov
and subscribe to our daily electronic newsletter, the "Arctic Daily
Update," which provides useful information about recent events,
conferences, research initiatives and international news.
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Friday, October 11, 2013
Blog Break
Your blogger is on leave for 2012-2013, splitting time between Alaska and Washington D.C. and planning to resume regular postings in 2014 speaking, as always, in her personal capacity.
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