Project description
Strengthening the European Union’s Arctic protection
The protection of the Arctic environment is a ceaseless issue. Moreover, concern has mounted in recent years as the region is warming twice as fast as the global average. The EU-funded EURARCTIKA project will focus on studies that analyse the main features of the Arctic legal regime concerning environmental protection, identifying both its strengths and weaknesses. It will also focus on interpreting the geopolitical and economic interests of the EU and other states in the region as well as their implication on a global scale. Once the results of these studies, measures, instruments and strategies are in place, the EU will be able to implement an effective environmental regime to protect the Arctic environment, mitigating its negative impacts on this fragile region.
Objective
The European Union in the Arctic (EURARCTIKA) research project’s objective is to investigate which legal and geopolitical instruments the EU could use in order to contribute to the protection of the Arctic environment. The timeliness of this issue is due to the fact that the Arctic is warming at a rate of almost twice the global average, which is making energy resources and transportation routes much more accessible while jeopardizing the environment at the same time.
The EU is an important actor in the Arctic where it has geopolitical and economic interests. Additionally, the EU has a distinct negative impact on the Arctic environment with its greenhouse gases and black carbon emissions. For this reason, the EU should take responsibility for its impact on the Arctic and play a role in the protection of its environment.
EURARCTIKA combines two branches of international studies (law and international relations). These latter analyse the same phenomenon from different perspectives that are however complementary offering a complete analysis of the object of study. EURARCTIKA will first analyse the main features of the Arctic legal regime for environmental protection and will identify its main strengths and weaknesses in order to evaluate its effectiveness. It will subsequently focus on the geopolitical and economic interests of the EU and of states in the region and the implications at the international level. Finally, the project will investigate the measures, the instruments, and the strategies that the EU can use to contribute to develop an effective environmental regime in the region in order to protect the Arctic environment.
Through an extensive dissimination of the research results (open-access publications, a high-level conference, workshops participation and presentations), this research project will allow experts, academics and stakeholders to understand how the EU can contribute to the protection of the Arctic environment.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
1012WX Amsterdam
Netherlands