Arctic Law and Governance: The Role of China and Finland

Description

The objective of this book is to identify similarities and differences between the positions of Finland (as an EU Member State) and China, on Arctic law and governance. The book compares Finnish and Chinese legal and policy stances in specific policy areas of relevance for the Arctic, including maritime sovereignty, scientific research, marine protected areas, the Svalbard Treaty and Arctic Council co-operation. Building on these findings, the book offers general conclusions on Finnish and Chinese approaches to Arctic governance and international law, as well as new theoretical insights on Arctic governance. The book is the result of a collaboration between The Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law (Arctic Centre, University of Lapland) and researchers from Wuhan University.

Timo Koivurova is Director and a Research Professor of the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland, Finland. Qin Tianbao is Professor, Director of the Research Institute of Environmental Law and Associate Dean for the Law School, Wuhan University, China. Sebastien Duyck is Research Fellow at the Institute of European and International Economic Law, University of Bern, Switzerland and a Visiting Researcher at the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, University of Lapland, Finland. Tapio Nykanen is Researcher at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Lapland, Finland.

This is a lively, well-written and comprehensive collection of essays on a series of interconnected themes, each of which rewards careful reading in its own right, as well as part of a wider narrative. The book also provides a series of new insights into national approaches, as well as a clear-sighted and unflinching treatment of pressing regulatory issues facing the Arctic and the prospective contributions of China, Finland and the EU in this regard. The book is also a valuable test case for the merits of cross-institutional collaboration, allowing scholars from very different legal backgrounds to challenge each other's assumptions, approaches and prevailing legal philosophies. The result is a rigorous and insightful volume of contemporary scholarship - and a hopeful metaphor for future Arctic cooperation. -- Richard Caddell, Cardiff University * Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law *