PCRC News
February 12, 2025 
Book launch and review seminar on "Geopolitical Change and the Antarctic Treaty System" in Kyoto
The 29th PCRC International Law Seminar "Book Launch and Review on 'Geopolitical Change and the Antarctic Treaty System: Historical lessons, Current Challenges' will be held on March 1 at the Kyoto International Law Study Group. This seminar was organized to take advantage of the opportunity that one of the co-authors, Professor McGee, is currently in a stay at Kobe University as a visiting professor. In this seminar, the presenters intend to take up Part III (Antarctic geopolitics, by McGee), Chapters 3, 8, 11 & 14 (Core Antarctic Treaty principles, by Shibata), Chapters 4 & 9 (Environmental issues, by Nuemann), and Chapters 10 & 12 (CCAMLR, by Morishita). More details can be found here. (Prior approval by the study group is required to attend.)
February 10, 2025
Welcome, Visiting Professor Jeffrey McGee from University of Tasmania!
Kobe PCRC is delighted to welcome Professor Jeffrey McGee of University of Tasmania as PCRC member during the period from January 15 to March 6, 2025, as Kobe University Visiting Professor under the Strategic International Collaboration Grant Type C project on “Antarctic environmental policies based on best available science: Multidisciplinary research”. Professor McGee had already participated in 2nd Kobe PCRC/KOPRI Antarctic governance workshop on January 18, and he plans to make a presentation jointly with Director Shibata at Kyoto University International Law Study Group on March 1.
February 7, 2025 
28th PCRC International Law Seminar with presenters from Uruguay, Netherlands and Australia
On January 21, PCRC and GSICS jointly organized an international law seminar entitled “New Insights into International Polar Law: A view from early-career scholars”. Kobe PCRC and GSICS graduate students enjoyed a diverse perspective on the Antarctic and Arctic governance presented by early-to-mid career scholars from Uruguay, The Netherlands, and Australia. Yliana from Uruguay is a linguistic expert and argued for an equitable representation of languages in the Antarctic governance, whereas Vill and Indi, both international lawyers, focused on specific challenges facing the current Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCMs), namely the issue of Annex VI on Antarctic environmental liability and the difficulties in reaching consensus in ATCM and CEP decision-making. After the seminar, a tea-party was organized by GSICS students to continue their dialogue with the international guests.
December 11, 2024
2nd Kobe PCRC/KOPRI Antarctic Governance Workshop on 18-19 January
As Japan prepares to host the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in May 2026 in Hiroshima, the diplomats, delegates and academia gather again in Kobe, Japan, to reconsider how to maintain the Antarctica as “the natural reserve devoted to peace and science”. The second Antarctic governance workshop co-organized with Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) will be held on 18-19 January 2025. Please check the dedicated website for the venue, draft program and registration information. Guest speakers include Ambassador Kazuhiko Nakamura from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Kees Bastmeijier from the Netherlands, Ms Natasha Gardiner from New Zealand, Prof. Li Chen from China, and Prof. Jeff McGee from Tasmania. The workshop will be conducted entirely in English, and online participation is possible. Please check the website for information on registration.
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..
Last updated February 12, 2025