Arctic Environmental and Climate Change Governance Network  (ArcEnGov)

ArcEnGov intends to serve as a platform for collaboration on Arctic environmental and climate change governance through the creation of an international network between the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Denmark and research institutions in Canada, including the Center for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Canada (CIGI).

By initiating and exploring collaboration with CIGI, we aim to foster research synergies and to pioneer the first Denmark-Canada network on the area of Arctic Environmental Governance.

Relevant topics that the network will explore include the regulation of heavy fuel oil and shipping in the Arctic, extractives industries (mining and oil exploitation in the arctic), risks and disasters related to the Arctic, indigenous rights and the Arctic, and the relevance and influence of Arctic environmental governance for broader international relations and politics.

ArcEnGov was setup in January 2019. The network activities for 2019 are funded by the International Network Program of the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education, Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science.
The funding supports a two-day conference held in June and a research stay for some network members. ArcEnGov aims to maintain research collaborations after the initial granting period.

Researchers from Denmark, Canada, and other invited expert participants from Denmark and abroad, convened for a two-day conference at Copenhagen University. The Conference on Arctic Environmental and Climate Change Governance provided an opportunity for in-depth exploration of a number of research themes including the following questions:

What are the different institutional approaches to Arctic environmental governance at the international, regional and national level? How do they interact?

What is the role of non-state actors and indigenous communities in Arctic environmental and climate change governance?

What efforts can foster the coordination of the conservation and sustainable use of living and non-living resources in the Arctic?

How does climate change impact governance challenges, and what has been done to support adaptation/mitigation?

Selected papers presented at the conference will be published in June 2020 in a Special Issue of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law (IJMCL).