Correlation of rights and interests of the circumpolar and other states in the use of the Arctic region

Abstract

The severe natural conditions of the Arctic have impeded the economic development of the region for centuries. The norm for the recognition of special rights of circumpolar states to establish their own legal order in the region was established as a result of international custom. The application the generally accepted United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea allowed the Arctic countries to establish the own zones of jurisdiction, which enables the extraction of natural living and mineral resources. Such jurisdiction was also extended to shipping routes that require constant maintenance and significant investments; thus the shipping routes are close to acquiring the status of canals. However, the climate warming and ice melt have turned the Arctic from the isolated region with limited geopolitical and geoeconomic significance to the next frontier of opportunities for the world’s countries. There is currently no single all-encompassing treaty on the use of the Arctic. The legal order consists of the regional and subregional agreements, national legislation, and soft law. The circumpolar states actively and extensively used the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) for establishing the limits and legal regime of the zones of own jurisdiction in the Arctic Ocean. In May 2008, five Arctic coastal states signed the so-called Ilulissat Declaration, acclaiming the current trends in the development of legal order in the Arctic. For ensuring the political, economic interests of the Arctic states in the region, as well as global security and protection of regional environmental sensitive to detrimental effects, it is necessary to develop a uniform position of the coastal states on the entirety of regional problems in view of the growing activity of the non-Artic states that declare their national interests in the Arctic region.