Polar Law Symposium 2009 | Arctic Portal

Between September 10-12 The Second Polar Law Symposium 2009 Will be held at the University of Akureyri Iceland to present and debate current legal challenges in the polar regions. The Fyrst Polar Law symposium was held September 7-10 2008 and brought together several of the world's leading Polar lawyers and senior scientists and coincided with the launch of a new Masters program in Polar Law at the University of Akureyri.

The symposium gathered over 60 participants, from a variety of institutions including distinguished guests Dr. Bakary Kante, Director of the Division of Environmental Law and Conventions at the United National Environmental Programme (UNEP), and President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Republic of Iceland.

The symposium was divided into four themes, which addressed the legal challenges of protecting polar UNAK Lake Myvatnbiodiversity, improving sustainable development in the North, re-evaluating environmental governance and questions surrounding emerging jurisdictional claims in the Polar Regions. One particular concern for researchers was the need for developing a new legal framework to address the Arctic environment. The Symposium was regarded as a success and the upcoming symposium can be expected to be similarly interesting. This years theme will be

• Theme I: New Shipping Routes and Environmental Implications for the Polar Regions

• Theme II: Effective Environmental Governance

• Theme III: The Exploration and Exploitation of Resources

It is clear that this years symposium will be just as exiting as last years and will coincide with a APECS meeting held in connection with the conference. The full schedule of the conference can be downloaded here and further questions addressed to Dr. Natalia Loukacheva This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it