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Tag: conference

  • Polar Law Symposium 2009

    Between September 10-12 The Second Polar Law Symposium 2009 Will be held at the University of Akureyri Iceland to present and debate current legal challenges in the polar regions. The First Polar Law symposium was held September 7-10 2008 and brought together several of the world’s leading Polar lawyers and senior scientists and coincided with the launch of a new Masters program in Polar Law at the University of Akureyri.

    The symposium gathered over 60 participants, from a variety of institutions including distinguished guests Dr. Bakary Kante, Director of the Division of Environmental Law and Conventions at the United National Environmental Programme (UNEP), and President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Republic of Iceland.

    The symposium was divided into four themes, which addressed the legal challenges of protecting polar UNAK Lake Myvatn biodiversity, improving sustainable development in the North, re-evaluating environmental governance and questions surrounding emerging jurisdictional claims in the Polar Regions. One particular concern for researchers was the need for developing a new legal framework to address the Arctic environment. The Symposium was regarded as a success and the upcoming symposium can be expected to be similarly interesting. This years theme will be

    • Theme I: New Shipping Routes and Environmental Implications for the Polar Regions
    • Theme II: Effective Environmental Governance
    • Theme III: The Exploration and Exploitation of Resources

    It is clear that this years symposium will be just as exiting as last years and will coincide with a APECS meeting held in connection with the conference. The full schedule of the conference can be downloaded here and further questions addressed to Dr. Natalia Loukacheva natalial@unak.is

    Source: UArctic, UNAK

  • Conference organized jointly by the French presidency of the council of the European union and the principality of Monaco, 9-10 November 2008

    The conference will take place in two phases: One session devoted to discussions between experts which will itself be broken down into two parts: an inventory of environmental research in the Arctic; a focus on existing research tools and current thoughts/discussions on the creation of a network of observation stations in the Arctic; A ministerial session organized around two round tables in which ministers will participate and where recommendations by experts will be debated.

    Background

    The Arctic is the area in the world where the effects of climate change on the environment are most evident, should they deal with the physical environment, the populations or biodiversity. The Arctic basin also houses part of the different types of pollution emitted into the northern hemisphere. It is therefore a privileged field for observing the evolution of pollution with time as well as their effects on polar environment. Monitoring the effects of climate change upon our environment in the long run requires the pursuit of the significant effort made by countries active in scientific research in the Arctic, and their operators. The European Union has undertaken various ambitious programmes in the Arctic (including the DAMOCLES programme). The International Polar Year (2007- 2009) provides an opportunity to increase research efforts: over two thousand projects bringing together thousands of scientists from around 60 countries have been launched. Such efforts are based on observatories which, however, present some weaknesses (heterogeneity, very variable meshing according to the different regions and heterogenic standards). In order to lessen these weaknesses, it is highly desirable to strengthen cooperation between the scientific teams involved and better ensure the quality of measures and the circulation of data. An impulse has already been given to the creation of a network of stations to observe the Arctic, both within the framework of the Arctic Council ?(the SAON group, Sustaining Arctic Observation Networks, which will present its conclusions in April 2009) and within the European framework by way of the European Polar Board. In order for this dynamic to continue beyond the International Polar Year, France, whose polar institute (IPE V) coordinates around 20 research programmes in the Arctic, decided to organize an international conference on the Arctic in the framework of its presidency of the Council of the EU and following the conclusions of the Grenelle environment forum. The Principality of Monaco, which has long had an interest in polar issues, inspired a decision adopted by the Board of Directors of UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), held in Monaco in February 2008, calling on States ‘to support and strengthen networks to observe the Arctic over coming years’. The Principality offered to organize jointly with France this international conference which will take place in Monaco on 9 and 10 November this year.

    Format of the Conference

    The conference will take the form of a ministerial meeting. Over one and a half days, on 9 and 10 November 2008, it will bring together experts belonging to the international scientific community and governments interested and secondly the ministers involved in Arctic issues. The Conference will bring together around 230 people and is directed at: Representatives of the governments of the 27 EU member states, Norway, Iceland, Principality of Monaco and the home rule authorities of Greenland; Representatives of member States of the Arctic Council or with scientific activities in the Arctic (including China, India, Japan and Republic of Korea); The European Institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, European Environment Agency) ; Representatives of regional and international organizations; Experts belonging to the international scientific community; Representatives of indigenous people; Representatives of civil society; Personalities with knowledge on this issue.

    Expected results

    A political support to the pursuit of scientific research beyond the International Polar Year as well as to intensify the work underway within the SAON group on the network of observation stations in the Arctic in order to provide elements for decision making on the prevention of environment deterioration. The launch of the process necessary to enable the creation of a network of European observatories in the Arctic which would be based on the work of the European Polar Board and the European Polar Consortium, and considered to be a contribution to the ongoing process within the SAON group.

    Conference objectives

    To increase public awareness on the urgent need for action to protect the Arctic from damage caused by degradation of the global environment; To provide a focus on scientific studies carried out in the Arctic within the context of the International Polar Year, broadening them into wider subjects around a central theme: the Arctic as a privileged observatory of global environmental changes, and especially the effects of climate change; To launch a political appeal to pursue scientific research beyond the International Polar Year and to create a network of Arctic observation stations for the protection of the environment.