About the legal regime apllicable to the environmental protection of the artic ocean

Abstract

The particularities of the Arctic environment have encouraged a strong debate over the sufficiency of its current legal regime to guarantee an adequate and sufficient protection. In this context, a strong tension is discernible between those who sustain that protection efforts over this area can be effectively channeled through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and those who believe that the very special needs of the Arctic cannot be addressed under such a general instrument. The authors advocate for an effective protection through the efficient utilization of the available resources, and on the basis of cooperation.