PCRC News
November 18, 2024 
Political shadows cast by the Antarctic curtain: a co-authored paper identifies governance risks of glacial geoengineering
Director Shibata published a high-profile co-authored paper entitled: “Ice sheet conservation and international discord: governing (potential) glacial geoengineering in the Antarctica”, with Dr. Patrick Framm, an international relations scholar at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt in Germany, who was a visiting professor at Kobe University in February 2024. The paper is published as a policy paper in International Affairs, the journal of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in the UK. Antarctic geoengineering is an engineering concept to slow down the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by installing a huge curtain on the seafloor in front of the ice sheet. This study analyzes the governance risks posed by the Antarctic geoengineering concept in light of the objective of the Antarctic Treaty to prevent the Antarctic region from becoming the scene of international discord and the obligation to use the Antarctic region only for peaceful purposes. This paper grew out of an international seminar held in Kobe and is available open-access from here. Kobe University made a global press release on this research achievement.
October 25, 2024 
Rovaniemi Workshop and Östersund Seminar on the Review of Japan’ Arctic Policy
On September 20-21, Director Shibata and members from ArCS II International Law Research Program(2020-2025) as well as collaborating scholars from KAKENHI International Collaborative Research on International Polar Law(2023-2029) have gathered in Rovaniemi, Finland, to showcase the ongoing project on the Review of Japan’s Arctic Policy 2015-25: A Suggestion for Next Decade. Prof. Timo Koivurova from the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, kindly co-hosted this workshop, with a special guest speaker, Ambassador Vuorimäki, Arctic Ambassador of Finland and the Finnish Senior Arctic Official to the Arctic Council. The final program of the workshop is now available. On September 23-25, our team moved to Mid-Sweden University in Östersund, Sweden, to participate in the 17th Polar Law Symposium, where Dr. Osamu Inagaki convened a seminar on the same subject matter, chaired by Prof. Hitomi Kimura and with Prof. Koivurova and Nansen Prof. Romain Chuffart as commentators. A photo from this seminar is also available..
September 2, 2024
Conference Report from SCAR OSC by two PCRC Fellows available!
The session on “Consensus-building based on best available science in the Antarctic Treaty System” organized as a part of the KAKENHI research project (2021-25) on The Resilience of the Antarctic Treaty System under the Anthropocene was a great success at 2024 SCAR Open Science Conference in Pucon, Chile. The session was co-convened by Director Shibata and Ms Natasha Gardiner, a PhD candidate at University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and included two presentations by Kobe PCRC fellows, Katharina Heinrich and Marco Volpe, both early career scholars from Finland. Now, a short report from Katharina and Marco is available from this site.
August 1, 2024
Director Shibata to co-lead 2 sessions and make 3 oral presentations at SCAR OSC
SCAR Open Science Conference, the world largest Antarctic science academic conference, will be held in Pucon, Chile, from 19-23 August, and Director Shibata will co-lead the Antarctic governance Session 33 and Best Available Science for Consensus-Building Session 46 and will make oral presentations on: (1) The Consultative Party Status conundrum raised by Belarus case at ATCM; (2) The significance of Best Available Science as a principle of Antarctic environmental governance (assisted by Ridzanna Abdulgalfur, Kobe University research student); and (3) The early field research on glacial geoengineering (underwater curtain idea) in relation to Antarctic transparency principle. In Session 46, two Kobe PCRC fellows, Katherina Heinrick and Marco Volpe, will make their presentations with the travel assistance from JSPS project on Antarctic Treaty System Resilience (21K18124).
Presentation files of Director Shibata are now available (password will be announced during SCAR OSC).
May 2, 2024
Antarctic governance seminar at 46 ATCM in India on May 20!
Co-organized with Korea’s KOPRI and Indian host government NCPOR, Kobe PCRC is convening an Antarctic governance seminar on May 20, the first day of 46th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in Kochi, India. Because it is held inside the conference venue, in-person access is limited to ATCM delegates, but it will be live streamed online! Panel 1 will discuss the current Antarctic governance challenges in light of “science diplomacy” and “diversifying voices”. Panel 2 will discuss our (current generation’s) responsibilities and commitments towards the future generation, taking up the topics such as globalized Antarctica, environmental liability, tourism and safety. Now, YouTube video of the seminar is available for watching.
April 18, 2024
An important contribution on science-based decision making in the Antarctic governance
Director Shibata just published a co-authored paper in Marine Policy: Science Advice for International Governance: An evidence-based perspective on the role of SCAR in the Antarctic Treaty System, with Steven Chown (Australia) leading, and Kees Bastmeijer (Netherlands), Cassandra Brooks (USA), Neil Gilbert (New Zealand) and Laura Phillips (Australia). This is an important contribution in the present Antarctic governance context, where serious yet ill-founded doubts are expressed as to the foundational principle of Antarctic governance based on best available science. This is another outcome of Director Shibata’s current research under KAKENHI “The Resilience of the Antarctic Treaty System under Anthropocene”. Open access article and free downloading.
April 4, 2024
Director Shibata as a Board Member of the the Arctic Centre, U-Lapland!
From 2024 with two years term, Director Shibata will act as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Arctic Centre, the University of Lapland, Finland. The Arctic Centre is the leading Arctic research institution in the world, and its Scientific Advisory Board supports the Centre's leadership by giving advice for its research planning and on the implementation of its Strategic Plan. Under the JSPS funded International Collaborative Research 2023-2028, Dierctor Shibata as its PI has designated the Arctic Centre as the core overseas research hub in order for PCRC to expand and strengthen its polar governance research.
Last updated October 25, 2024