January 2018

Working group on cooperation in Svalbard

Surprisingly, the Svalbard Arctic archipelago was never included in international discussions on governance or cooperation issues related to the rapidly changing Arctic. It is noteworthy that Norwegians authorities have been very careful at excluding any Svalbard considerations from their official documents on High North Strategy. Nonetheless, the Svalbard archipelago, with no doubt, is highly concerned with potential consequences of climate change in the Arctic.
Under the terms of the Paris treaty 1920, the Svalbard is under the Kingdom of Norway sovereignty which is tied to respect an equal treatment of the Parties. One may think of this legal arrangement as a rather sleeping one, but a quick look at the recent adhesions to the Paris treaty (Lithuania, Latvia, South Korea, North Korea) will show just the opposite, namely that Svalbard is currently undergoing a strategic positioning process involving the international community.
As a signatory State and the depositary State of the 1920 treaty, and the first after Norway, to have established a scientific station in Svalbard, Ny-Ålesund, in 1963, France which has firmly demonstrated its ambition to promote a vision of common interest in the Arctic (“France National roadmap on the Arctic”, June 2016), would benefit from having a clear picture of Svalbard governance, notably as far as scientific and economic activities conducted by nationals from the parties to the Treaty, are concerned.
This is the objective that the Working group on cooperation in Svalbard (WGCS) is aimed at achieving.

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Composition of the WGCS

PRESIDENT :

Former Special Representative for Polar Affairs, founding-president of NGO Le Cercle Polaire.


VICE-PRESIDENT :

Biologist, expert in environment, founding-member of NGO le Cercle Polaire, editor in chief of “Pôles Nord & Sud” magazine.


SECRETARY :
To be confirmed

 


MEMBERS :

Former Prefect of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, former Senator, former Lecturer at Ecole Centrale, Paris.
President of the Departemental Council of Savoie, former Minister, past MP, President of the expert mission on « Ecological, economic and geopolitic challenges of climate change in the Arctic and the Antarctic » at the foreign Affairs council, National Assembly, registered on the 8th of April 2015.
Vice Asmiral of the French National Marine Reserve, member of the Wise Pens think tank, co-author of several studies on the Arctic, including « Naval challenges in the Arctic » in 2013 and “Arctic, the ocean of tomorrow” in 2015, and “Arctic training” in 2016.
Emeritus Research Director at National Center for Scientific Research, former executive Director of the French Polar Institute “Paul-Emile Victor”.
Mamere148c Former Deputy-Mayor, Rapporteur of the expert mission on « Ecological, economic and geopolitical challenges of climate change in the Arctic and the Antarctic » at the foreign Affairs council, National Assembly, registered on the 8th of April 2015.
Pancracio148 professeur agrégé des facultés de droit, professeur émérite à l’université de Poitiers, spécialiste du droit de la mer et du littoral, éditeur du blog « Observatoire de la Diplomatie »  et du site dédié au « Dictionnaire de la Diplomatie ».
Vedrine148c International Affairs consultant, former Minister.

March 2011 / March 2015

Participation in the European Project ACCESS

Under UPMC leadership and involving 27 partners from 10 countries, the ACCESS project (Arctic Climate Change, Economy and Society) was selected in response to the first call «The Ocean of Tomorrow» of the EU 7th Framework Program Research and Development (FP7-OCEAN-2010) under Transport, Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Energy, Environment, Socio-economic sciences and Humanities supervision.

The objective of the call is to build the knowledge for a sustainable growth of sea-based activities a) by improving understanding of marine ecosystems’ response to a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors and b) by providing a scientific foundation for feasible, sustainable management measures supporting policies and possible related technologies.

The strategy highlights the importance of integration between established marine and maritime research disciplines, in order to reinforce excellence in science and to reconcile the growth of sea-based activities with environmental sustainability. The cross-thematic «ocean of tomorrow» calls seek to implement this commitment. Maritime transport, tourism, offshore energy, resource extraction, coastal development, fisheries and aquaculture may have a major impact on the marine environment. The European Union has taken up this challenge and established a new integrated maritime policy, of which the Communication “A European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research” (COM (2008) 534) is a fundamental part.

Climate change is strongly impacting both marine ecosystems and human activities in the Arctic, which in turn has important socio-economic implications for Europe. ACCESS will evaluate the latest Arctic climate change scenarios and establish their impacts on marine transportation (including tourism), fisheries, marine mammals and the extraction of hydrocarbons in the Arctic for the next three decades with particular attention to environmental sensitivities and sustainability. Understanding the socio- economic impacts of these changes on markets, economies and on European policy objectives along with their influence on Arctic governance are key areas of research within ACCESS. An open and inclusive forum will give the opportunity to all stakeholders interested in the ACCESS consortium activities and crosscutting research, to interact with ACCESS partners.

ACCESS is composed of 5 integrated working groups. These groups perform the interdisciplinary research needed to address societal, economic, ecosystem and policy consequences of current and projected climate change impacts in the Arctic Ocean by :

  • Understanding the complex workings of the ocean-ice-atmosphere system within the Arctic Ocean through a combination of monitoring and modelling
  • Assessing the opening of marine transportation in the Arctic Ocean north of Europe and Siberia, through the Canadian Archipelago and across the North Pole in the context of climate change
  • Examining Arctic fisheries, aquaculture and livelihoods in the context of climate change
  • Foreseeing the development of Arctic offshore oil and gas activities with respect to the harsh environment and in the context of possible climate change scenarios
  • Assessing the interplay of Arctic institutions, governance strategies and policy options with regard to Arctic states, indigenous peoples and global civil society in the context of climate change.
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27 participants involved in ACCESS project

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Download the ACCESS programme presentation
Visit the ACCESS European programme website

 Novembre 2007/Septembre 2008

Groupe d'étude sur la gouvernance de l'Arctique

En septembre 2007, le think tank le Cercle Polaire a décidé de profiter du climat de coopération instauré par l’Année polaire internationale 2007-2009, pour créer un groupe d’étude visant à réfléchir à la légitimité et à la forme que pourrait prendre un éventuel cadre réglementaire international pour l’Arctique. S’il ne saurait s’agir d’appliquer aveuglément le modèle Antarctique à l’Arctique, il ne faudrait pas non plus que : « le Nord soit condamné à payer les frais de la non-exploitation des ressources minières australes, ni être sacrifié sur l’autel de la bonne conscience mondiale justifiant d’un Grand Sud ultra-préservé " (Dominique Kopp).

Sous la tutelle honorifique de Hubert Védrine, ancien ministre des Affaires étrangères et de Michel Rocard, ancien Premier ministre, 14 experts scientifiques et juridiques ont élaboré un projet de "Traité relatif à la protection de l'environnement Arctique" qui a vu le jour en août 2008. Ce document est destiné à offrir un matériau de réflexion à des institutions, parlements, organisations internationales, ONG et experts soucieux de réfléchir à la question de la gouvernance de l'Arctique.

Voir le projet de "Traité relatif à la protection de l'environnement arctique"

Grâce à un travail de lobbying du Cercle Polaire et à la “sensibilité polaire” de quelques rares parlementaires français et européens, ce projet de Traité a inspiré la proposition de loi du député Jean-Yves le Déaut à l'Assemblée nationale, reprise et remaniée par le Sénateur Christian Gaudin en janvier 2009 ainsi que la résolution "Arctic Governance" du Parlement européen promue et rédigée par Michel Rocard, adoptée le 9 octobre 2008. 

Voir l'amendement relatif à la gouvernance de l'Arctique dans la loi "Grenelle I" adoptée le 30 janvier 2009

Voir la résolution "Arctic Governance" adoptée par le Parlement européen le 9 octobre 2008.  

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Composition du GEGA

MEMBRES D'HONNEUR :
MICHEL ROCARD, ancien Premier ministre, député européen.
HUBERT VEDRINE, ancien ministre des Affaires étrangères, avocat.


PRÉSIDENT :
LAURENT MAYET, membre fondateur du Cercle Polaire.


SECRÉTAIRE :
GABRIEL PICOT, professeur de Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre, chargé de mission à la culture scientifique au Rectorat de Versailles.


MEMBRES :
ANNE CHOQUET, enseignante à l’Université de Bretagne occidentale. Spécialiste du droit de l’Antarctique et des îles subantarctiques.
MARIE-NOELLE HOUSSAIS, chargée de recherches au CNRS, au Laboratoire d'océanographie dynamique et de climatologie de l'université Paris 6 Pierre et Marie Curie.
FREDERIC LASSERRE, professeur à l'université de Laval (Québec), directeur de l'Observatoire de Recherches Internationales sur l'Eau (ORIE).
CHRISTIAN DE MARLIAVE, coordinateur scientifique de l’expédition Tara-Arctique, responsable éditorial aux éditions Paulsen
YVES MATHIEU, chef de projet à l’Institut français du pétrole pour les réserves et les ressources en hydrocarbures mondiales.
MATHIEU MEISSONIER, administrateur au Sénat, Office parlementaire d’évaluation des choix scientifiques et technologiques.
STANISLAS POTTIER, conseiller du Ministre de l’Economie, des finances et de l’emploi.
HENRIETTE RASMUSSEN, ancienne Ministre de la culture, de l’éducation, de la recherche et des affaires écclésiastiques du Groenland.
FIODOR RILOV, membre fondateur du Cercle Polaire, avocat à la Cour.
CARLO SANTULLI, agrégé des Facultés de droit, professeur à l’Université Paris II (Panthéon- Assas), avocat à la Cour.
MICHELLE THERRIEN, professeur des Universités à l'Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO), responsable des enseignements de Langue et de Culture inuit.

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