5th Polar Law Symposium 2012

Rovaniemi, Finland

The 5th Polar Law Symposium 2012 is aimed to gather internationally renowned legal scholars partaking in Arctic and Antarctic research as well as politicians, stakeholders, local and regional actors.

The Symposium will cover variety of topics relating to the Arctic and the Antarctic:

- Local and national governance issues.
- Environmental law, climate change, security and environment implications of climate change, protected areas and species.
- Regulatory, governance and management agreements and arrangements for marine environments, marine mammals, fisheries conservation and other biological/mineral/oil resources.
- Law of the sea, the retreating sea ice, continental shelf claims.
- Territorial claims and border disputes on both land and at sea.
- Human rights issues, such as autonomy and self-government vs. self-determination, the rights of indigenous peoples to land and natural resources and cultural rights and cultural heritage, indigenous traditional knowledge.
- Peace and security, dispute settlement.
- Jurisdictional and other issues re the exploration, exploitation and shipping of oil, gas and minerals, bioprospecting.
- Trade law, potential shipping lines through the north-west and north-east passages, maritime law and transportation law.
- The roles and actual involvement of international organizations in the Polar regions, such as the Arctic Council, the European Union, the International Whaling Commission, the Nordic Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the United Nations, as well as NGOs.

Organized by: Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland / University of Akureyri, Iceland