Suchergebnisse

This article examines how arguments about Russia are portrayed in the Norwegian petroleum debate regarding offshore drilling in the high north. Based on discourse analysis as a framework. the article examines how advocates of drilling have managed to get wide acceptance in the public sphere for their argument that Norway "must drill to help the environment." Such a statement is possible only if there are certain widely held perceptions in the Norwegian public about "Russia & the environment." These perceptions have little to do with recent experience regarding Russian petroleum industry or Russian environmental standards in general, but have more to do with notions which date back to the collapse of the Soviet Union. References. Adapted from the source document.

The impacts of climate change on marine resources are well known and demand mitigation and adaptation measures in order to protect the ecosystems. This entails more than simply altering management practices; it requires altering goal setting and managing transitions to new ecosystemic conditions. In the European Union, the main legal tool for protection of the marine environment is the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Greece, as a member state of the European Union, has transposed the Marine Strategy Framework Directive into its national legal order and has developed legal structures to protect its marine resources from various threats, including climate change.
The present paper aims to present the legal and policy management tools in Greece, relevant to implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and climate change adaptation. For methodological reasons, the paper is divided into two parts: The first part deals with those legal tools that apply to an initial assessment of the environmental quality of Greek marine waters, while the second part analyzes legislative activities pertinent to the design and implementation of programs and measures. The aim of the national legislation is to maintain the ecosystemic integrity of the marine waters of Greece and to preserve the unique characteristics of the aquatic environment with respect to present and future generations. However, the analysis shows that a holistic legal framework demands explicit provisions for climate change impacts, while the existing framework focuses primarily on anthropogenic pressures on the marine environment.

Regulatory coherence is crucial to effectively respond to the growing pressures that our oceans are facing. Applying the interpretative lens of ocean connectivity to ocean governance can help address the challenges from a material, epistemic, and geopolitical viewpoint. This special issue intends to uncover various understandings of ocean connectivity taking into account the complex biocultural interactions happening in the marine environment. The research aim is divided into two objectives: (1) to explore the various conceptualizations of ocean connectivity; and (2) to provide a critical analysis on how the law (of the sea) considers or disregards ocean connectivity. Our research methodology combines a literature review and a mapping technique that examines the models of connectivity. The mapping technique has been developed by adopting the 'one-pager approach', where the authors have been asked to answer two research questions, aligned with our research objectives. We structured the work into an introductory section and three main articles. The understanding of ocean connectivity is key to developing international marine policy and suggesting legal tools for the protection of the marine environment. Moving from this angle towards an understanding of connectivity which includes bio-centric elements, Indigenous cosmo-visions, and anthropocentric connectivity, we identified three models of connectivity and explored their suitability to address the systemic challenges.

The advantages that some military establishments have enjoyed in the remote Arctic region are diminishing. The military secrets of the Arctic Ocean are being progressively uncloaked, as civilian polar research expands into areas previously known only to a few. This study examines the security ramifications of broadened international research into what has been the most inhospitable and exclusive operational area on Earth. Firstly, the study argues that successful military operations in the Arctic depend on extended knowledge about area-specific issues related to e.g. the upper atmosphere and magnetosphere, weather, sea ice, ocean structure and dynamics, seafloor bathymetry and sediments, as well as reliable target detection systems. Secondly, it finds that a number of nations, both Arctic and non-Arctic, have stepped up their polar research in recent years. Secrets once held by a few are now accessible to many through international cooperation, data-sharing and open-access publishing. Finally, the study concludes that knowledge proliferation is likely to level the Arctic battlefield. Lending terms from Mica Endsley's three-level Situation Awareness model, polar research will result in increasingly shared perceptions about the Arctic operational environment, contribute to a more uniform comprehension of the elements, and even enable new actors to project a future state of the Arctic environment.

This thesis studies three major reforms in the public sector of Norway. The sectors studied are the police, higher education, and primary schools. The main motive for studying these reforms are of a theoretical nature, the reason to study them is to produce general knowledge about reforms. The study aims to answer two main questions. One is about the possibilities and limitations contained in using reforms to change organizations. The second is about how organizations can promote the ideals of representative democracy. In its efforts to attain answers to these questions the thesis blends empirically-oriented research with aspects of organization theory and political theory. The thesis is divided into four different parts. First, there is a descriptive presentation of the three reforms. Secondly, there is a discussion of various theories of reforms and organizations. The primary aim of this analysis is to illuminate and explain the empirical data, but this discussion should also provide its own answers to the main questions asked in the thesis. Thirdly, these theories are applied to analyze data from the three reforms. And finally, the study concludes with a summary of what general insights about the reforms we are left with after studying the Quality Reform, The Police Reform 2000, and the Knowledge Reform. The study shows that reforms have both policy and content aspects, and that it is important to distinguish between the two in order to analyse and understand them. The policy aspect is that reforms are a strategy for change - they are tools for implementing change in organizations. The content aspect is that reforms have a specific content - they have certain objectives that they want to realize. The study concludes that in order to understand this complex and fascinating phenomenon, we need to understand reforms both as instrumental tools, institutional adaptations and symbols.

Comments on "refleksprosjektet"; a Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiative to define Norwegian foreign policy in a new era faced with global changes in the areas of environment, energy, global warming, health, poverty, world security, technology and communication, international migration, religion, the global economy and changes in Norwegian changes in the areas of oil, the petroleum fund, open society, and global economic dependencies. Comments include the relationship between government initiative reports and practical politics, challenges of future planning, and value of plans to increase experience based learning. Concludes that the value of the initiative is increased focus, interest, debate, and understanding of Norwegian foreign policy issues. References. E. Sundby

The Minamata Convention, which entered into force on 16 August 2017, is a global, legally binding instrument on mercury. The initiative on the Minamata Convention was mainly driven by research showing negative effects on human health and the environment in the Arctic. The Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation on Arctic issues, and its Working Group, AMAP, played an important role in the process leading up to international negotiations on the Minamata Convention. This paper elucidates the evolutionary process in which scientific knowledge, herded by an intergovernmental, regional forum, is involved and forms the basis for a legally binding agreement. The paper provides new insight on multilevel governance of the mercury issue and unravels the role that AMAP has played in this dynamic process.