Centre for Climate Change Law and Governance

Regulating the Environmental Impacts of Arctic Cruise Ship Tourism through the Law-Science Interface (EMBARC)

EMBARC addresses a growing and understudied challenge in Arctic law and governance: The environmental and climate impacts of cruise ship tourism in the region.

Ship cuising on ice. Photo: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen, Unsplash — Photo: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen, Unsplash

At the heart of the project lies the law-science interface, i.e. how scientific knowledge about Arctic climate risks and can be better integrated into legal and regulatory frameworks. EMBARC will combine doctrinal legal analysis with empirical methods, including semi-structured interviews with key regulatory state and non-state actors involved in the regulation of Arctic cruise ship tourism.

Research focus

By illuminating the interactions between science and law in shaping regulatory responses to cruise tourism, EMBARC seeks to inform more robust and inclusive science-based legal outcomes. The project’s outcomes will be of significant value to researchers, policymakers, industry stakeholders, indigenous communities, and NGOs seeking to address the accelerating pressures on the Arctic’s fragile ecosystems.

Publications

Ebbersmeyer, A. S., & Martinez Romera, B. (2026). Environmental Challenges of Increasing Arctic Cruise Ship Tourism. AJIL Unbound, 120, 199–204.

Activities

Presentation at the 4^th Shipping & Environment Conference, Chalmers University of Technology. Title: ‘Climate impacts of Arctic cruise ship tourism: the law-science interface’ (22 September 2026).
Chairing and presenting at the 13^th EELF Conference 2026 on Climate Change Mitigation and EU Law: Towards a Just and Competitive Sustainable Transition, University of Copenhagen. Title: ‘Regulating the Climate and Environmental Impacts of Arctic Cruise Tourism: A Law-Science Perspective’ (26 August 2026).
Presentation at the PhD Seminar Series of the Chair of Prof. Proelss at the University of Hamburg. Title: ‘Climate and Environmental Impacts of Arctic Cruise Ship Tourism: The Law-Science Interface’ (15 July 2026).
Presentation of the EMBARC research project at the FALG 2026 roundtable at Dalhousie University (12 June 2026).
Two presentations at the uArctic Congress 2026. Title: ‘Regulating the Environmental Impacts of Arctic Cruise Ship Tourism through the Law-Science Interface’ (26 May 2026).
Presentation at the conference Turismo polar: reflexiones, desafíos y estrategias ambientales, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Title: ‘Regulating the Environmental Impacts of Arctic Cruise Ship Tourism through the Law-Science Interface (EMBARC)’ (18 March 2026).
Presentation of the EMBARC research project at Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (11 March 2026).