The panel session “Climate change and the polar regions: Socio-legal dynamics” was organized in collaboration with the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law at the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland and the UArctic Law Thematic Network. The panel was moderated by Professor Timo Koivurova (Arctic Centre).
The seminar consisted of four different presentations by Kamrul Hossain (Professor, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland), Medy Dervovic (Ph.D. Candidate, Reykjavík University), Noor Jahan Punam (Ph.D. Candidate, University of Lapland) and Corine Wood-Donnelly (Associate Professor, Nord University) involving broad topics relevant for the polar regions from matters of ice, cryosphere, science and law interface to Indigenous peoples’ participation in law-making processes. While the representations aligned with the prevailing approach to international law-making, they also challenged the processes.
Each of the presentations highlighted a critical perspective of different areas of international law-making and proposed ways of rethinking/re-evaluating the conventional ways of understanding the international legal process. All presentations also raised several issues we face due to the unprecedented rate at which climate change is happening in the Polar regions. The panel ended with a thought-provoking conversation joined by the polar law community representing the Arctic, the Antarctic, and the Third Pole.