Suchergebnisse

The Arctic is saturated with nuclear facilities bringing both benefits for regional economic and social development and risks of nuclear and radiological accidents and concerns about radioactive wastes. There is every reason to expect the Arctic will remain a nuclearized region during the foreseeable future. This makes it important to direct attention to issues of nuclear safety and security in the region. We identify several clusters of these issues in the Arctic, including the challenges of potential nuclear accidents, the handling of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, the cleanup of radiological contaminants, and concerns about nuclear security. An analysis of international conventions and voluntary codes of conduct shows that they are applicable to Arctic nuclear safety and security, but only in general terms. This suggests a need for an Arctic-specific agreement on nuclear and radiological safety, emergency preparedness and response, and cleanup of radiological contaminants. The outbreak of military hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022 has disrupted normal procedures for addressing issues of common concern in the Arctic. But the need for co-operation regarding matters like nuclear safety and security will not go away. Assuming it is possible to devise "necessary modalities" for restarting the work of the Arctic Council following the acute phase of the Ukraine crisis, an Arctic-specific agreement on nuclear safety and security could be developed under the auspices of the Arctic Council, which already has taken an interest in nuclear safety through the activities of its Working Group on Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response. Once such an agreement is in place, it will become important to consider the infrastructure needed to ensure that its provisions are implemented effectively.

Most studies of Asian state involvement in Arctic affairs assume that shorter sea-lanes to Europe are a major driver of interest, so this article begins by examining the prominence of shipping concerns in Arctic policy statements made by major Asian states. Using a bottom-up approach, we consider the advantages of Arctic sea routes over the Suez and Panama alternatives in light of the political, bureaucratic and economic conditions surrounding shipping and shipbuilding in China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Especially Japanese and Korean policy documents indicate soberness rather than optimism concerning Arctic sea routes, noting the remaining limitations and the need for in-depth feasibility studies. That policymakers show greater caution than analysts, links in with our second finding: in Japan and Korea, maritime-sector bureaucracies responsible for industries with Arctic experience have been closely involved in policy development, more so than in China. Thirdly, we find a clear tendency towards rising industry-level caution and restraint in all three countries, reflecting financial difficulties in several major companies as well as growing sensitivity to the economic and political risks associated with the Arctic routes. Finally, our examination of bilateral and multilateral Chinese, Japanese and Korean diplomatic activity concerning Arctic shipping exhibits a lower profile than indicated by earlier studies.

The article addresses the issue of indigenous agency and its influence on the contestation of indigenous rights norms in an extractive context from the perspective of organizations representing people, whose recognition as 'indigenous' is withheld by the Russian authorities. The article argues that a governance perspective and approach to recognition from 'below' provides a useful lens for comprehensively exploring strategies on norms contestation applied by these groups in the authoritarian normative context of Russia. Based on findings from a case study of Izhma-Komi organizations in the northwest Russian Arctic, the article identifies three strategies utilized by these organizations. By mobilizing inter-indigenous recognition, forging alliances with environmentalists and negotiating with an oil company, Izhma-Komi organizations have managed to extend certain rights and power previously not granted to them in an extractive context locally.

La crisi financera i econòmica mundial que viu el món globalitzat des de l'estiu de 2007 planteja la qüestió de si estem davant de la fi d'un cicle o de la fi d'un model, i posa en evidència la necessitat d'un profund debat d'idees. A banda de les causes immediates de la crisi, s'observen causes profundes que són, principalment, resultat d'un període de globalització econòmica neoliberal. Si l'efecte de la crisi als països del Nord és evident i palpable, el seu impacte als països menys desenvolupats és devastador, la revisió del Consens de Monterrey, encaminada a concretar el finançament per a l'assoliment dels Objectius de Desenvolupament del Mil·lenni, va quedar frustrada pel naixement del G20. L'abordatge polític de la crisi posa en qüestió els lideratges mundials. Si bé el G20 va voler monopolitzar el debat, finalment les Nacions Unides, de la mà del president de l'Assemblea General, el pare d'Escoto, va poder convocar la Conferència sobre la Crisi Financera i Econòmica i els seus Efectes Sobre el Desenvolupament (juny de 2009). Malgrat que els seus resultats són molt menors, i no s'hi van acordar moltes de les recomanacions del mateix president i de la Comissió Stiglitz, les conclusions de tot plegat apunten a una imprescindible reforma del sistema i de la governança de l'economia financera mundial. El "G192", es va posar, doncs, sobre la taula un model de governança democràtica mundial per abordar un crisi global d'impacte sobre la ciutadania mundial. The financial and economic crisis that has been rocking the globalised world since the summer of 2007 raises the question of whether we are looking at the end of a cycle or the end of a model and highlights the need for a thorough debate of ideas. In addition to the immediate causes of the crisis (such as the bursting of the housing bubble and the toxicity of the financial markets), several deep-rooted causes can be found, most resulting from a period of neo-liberal economic globalisation. Whilst the crisis has had a clear and tangible impact on the countries of the North, it has been calamitous for less developed countries. The damage is compounded by the fact that the review of the Monterrey Consensus, intended to find the necessary financing to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, was thwarted by the emergence of the G20. The political hijacking of the crisis casts doubt on global leadership. Although the G20 monopolised the debate, in the end, the United Nations (UN), under the leadership of the president of the General Assembly, Father Miguel d'Escoto, managed to convene the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development (June 2009). Despite the conference's modest results and the fact that no agreement was reached on many of the recommendations made by the president or the 'Stiglitz Commission', the conclusions as a whole point towards a crucial need to reform the system and governance bodies of the global financial economy. To this end, within the context of the UN, or 'G192', a model of global democratic governance was tabled to address a global crisis with an impact on global citizens ; Postprint (published version)

La crisi financera i econòmica mundial que viu el món globalitzat des de l'estiu de 2007 planteja la qüestió de si estem davant de la fi d'un cicle o de la fi d'un model, i posa en evidència la necessitat d'un profund debat d'idees. A banda de les causes immediates de la crisi, s'observen causes profundes que són, principalment, resultat d'un període de globalització econòmica neoliberal. Si l'efecte de la crisi als països del Nord és evident i palpable, el seu impacte als països menys desenvolupats és devastador, la revisió del Consens de Monterrey, encaminada a concretar el finançament per a l'assoliment dels Objectius de Desenvolupament del Mil·lenni, va quedar frustrada pel naixement del G20. L'abordatge polític de la crisi posa en qüestió els lideratges mundials. Si bé el G20 va voler monopolitzar el debat, finalment les Nacions Unides, de la mà del president de l'Assemblea General, el pare d'Escoto, va poder convocar la Conferència sobre la Crisi Financera i Econòmica i els seus Efectes Sobre el Desenvolupament (juny de 2009). Malgrat que els seus resultats són molt menors, i no s'hi van acordar moltes de les recomanacions del mateix president i de la Comissió Stiglitz, les conclusions de tot plegat apunten a una imprescindible reforma del sistema i de la governança de l'economia financera mundial. El "G192", es va posar, doncs, sobre la taula un model de governança democràtica mundial per abordar un crisi global d'impacte sobre la ciutadania mundial. The financial and economic crisis that has been rocking the globalised world since the summer of 2007 raises the question of whether we are looking at the end of a cycle or the end of a model and highlights the need for a thorough debate of ideas. In addition to the immediate causes of the crisis (such as the bursting of the housing bubble and the toxicity of the financial markets), several deep-rooted causes can be found, most resulting from a period of neo-liberal economic globalisation. Whilst the crisis has had a clear and tangible impact on the countries of the North, it has been calamitous for less developed countries. The damage is compounded by the fact that the review of the Monterrey Consensus, intended to find the necessary financing to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, was thwarted by the emergence of the G20. The political hijacking of the crisis casts doubt on global leadership. Although the G20 monopolised the debate, in the end, the United Nations (UN), under the leadership of the president of the General Assembly, Father Miguel d'Escoto, managed to convene the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development (June 2009). Despite the conference's modest results and the fact that no agreement was reached on many of the recommendations made by the president or the 'Stiglitz Commission', the conclusions as a whole point towards a crucial need to reform the system and governance bodies of the global financial economy. To this end, within the context of the UN, or 'G192', a model of global democratic governance was tabled to address a global crisis with an impact on global citizens ; Postprint (published version)