Ilya Stepanov’s«Climate Change and the Limits for the Development andCooperation in the Arctic»
A commentary
Multilevel Governance and Interregional Cooperation:
Vol.3 – Sustainable regional development, international
cooperation and the protection of the Arctic environment

Aileen A. Espíritu, Ph.D.
UiT Barentsinstituttet / UiT The Barents InstituteCampus Kirkenes
HSL-Fak / Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education
UiT Norges Arktiske Universitet / UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Mailing address: Postboks 107, Kirkenes, Norway, N-9915
Visiting Address: Rådhusgata 8, Kirkenes, Norway
Fax: +47 7897 7079 Mobile: +47 4588 5997
e.post: aileen.a.espiritu(at)uit.no or aaespiritu(at)gmail.com

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A commentary• The short-term gains of the benefits of climate change;• The impact of climate change in the Arctic leads to global impact on
climate, livelihoods, and everyday lives of peoples the world over;• Climate change is anthropogenic, precipitated by decisions concerningindustrial development producing CO2 emissions;• The political and social implications of climate change can be both positive
and negative;• What decisions are being made in Russia to diversify its economies in theArctic? And what impact does anthropogenic climate change have on thesedecisions, if any?
• What role do indigenous peoples and the rest of society play in thereframing (or not) of Russian economic development, environmental
management, and its path-dependence on fossil fuels in the Arctic?

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Back to the beginnings of an Arctic regime for possible solutions to environmental
challenges in the Arctic?

Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy the rootsof the Arctic Council as proposed by Finland andratified by all Arctic Eight states on 14 June 1991 inCanada.

Front cover of the first Arctic Council Declaration 19
September 1996, Ottawa, Canada.

Source: https://arctic-council.org/site/assets/files/6277/ottawa_declaration_signing.1110x410.webp

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Yet promoting an Arctic regime, that is the Arctic Council, that isflexible and agile able to adjust to major environmental, political,economic, and social change and challenges. (Young 2019)
Source: Young, Oran R. 2019. "Is It Time for a Reset in Arctic Governance?" Sustainability 11, no. 16: 4497. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164497…and inclusive of indigenous and various knowledges
towards dialogue and negotiation in order to advancesolutions to challenges of climate change, globalisation,
demographic shifts, regime change, etc.

4International agreements specific to the Arctic• Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime
Search and Rescue in the Arctic(signed 2011
• Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution
Preparedness and Response in the Arctic(signed 2013
• Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scienti c
Cooperation(signed 2017) (Source: Arctic Council• Arctic Five + Five (Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark,Norway, the Russian Federation, the United States, Iceland,China, Japan, Korea and the European Union.) Agreement toPrevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central
Arctic Ocean (signed in Ilulissat, 3 October 2018 and comes
into force 5 June 2 2021.

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5Selected sources
Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean (signed in Ilulissat, 3 October
2018 and comes into force 5 June 2 2021.
(2016) Arctic Environment Protection Strategy (AEPS). In: Zonn I.S., Kostianoy A.G., Semenov A.V. (eds) The Eastern
Arctic Seas Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Seas. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24237-8_31.
ARCTIC ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION STRATEGY, ROVANIEMI, FINLAND JUNE 1991. http://library.arcticportal.org/1542/1/artic_environment.pdf Accessed 7 September 2021.
DECLARATION ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ARCTIC COUNCIL 19 September 1996. https://oaarchive.arcticcouncil.org/bitstream/handle/11374/85/EDOCS-1752-v2-ACMMCA00_Ottawa_1996_Founding_Declaration.PDF?
sequence=5&isAllowed=y Accessed 7 September 2021.
IPCC, 2021: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L.
Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M. I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J. B. R.
Matthews, T. K. Maycock, T. Water eld, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press.

fi6ありがとうございますPhoto: GG7