PCRC News
June 11, 2025 
JSPS Core-to-Core Program will convene an ATCM Antarctic governance seminar in Milan on June 22
It has become a tradition that, since 2023 in Helsinki, Kobe PCRC co-organizes an Antarctic governance seminar jointly with other relevant institutions during the ATCM at the venue or nearby in the host city. This year, at Milan ATCM (June 23 to July 3), Kobe PCRC joined by KOPRI and Italian Institute of Polar Science (ISP) will convene a similar event entitled “Antarctic Governance upheld by the Treaty System” on June 22 near the ATCM conference venue. This year’s seminar will examine, in Panel 1, the structural foundations of the ATS, including its consensus-based decision-making processes, the role of transparency mechanisms, and the long-term adaptability of the system. Panel 2 will consider the evolving global context in which the ATS operates. Key external pressures such as accelerating climate change and the implications of new, emerging instruments such as the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) pose critical challenges and opportunities for the future of Antarctic governance. Please see the great line-up of the panelists in the flyer.
May 13, 2025 
Romain Chuffart, Nansen Professor from Akureyri, gave seminar on Arctic ice geoengineering
Dr. Romain Chuffart, Nasen Profesor from University of Akureyri gave a stimulating talk on Arctic ice geoengineering on May 13, attended by many GSICS International Law students, at 29th PCRC/GSICS International Law Seminar. Romain was a PCRC fellow for 5 months from 2018, right after he finished his LLM at Akureyri Polar Law Master’s Program, researching and collaborating with Director Shibata on Arctic international law. He then went to Durham University in the United Kingdom to pursue his doctoral degree, and was nominated as the prestigious Nansen Professor in 2024 for 3 year-term.
May 12, 2025
Director Shibata visiting UTAS/IMAS under the new JSPS Core-to-Core Program
From April 29 to May 8, Director Shibata, as his first overseas mission under the new JSPS Core-to-Core Program on Antarctic Governance Research (2025-30), visited the University of Tasmania and its Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (UTAS/IMAS), one of the Program’s overseas collaborating institutions. Director Shibata met with Adjunct Professor Anthony Press, the Coordinator for UTAS/IMAS under the JSPS Program, and other participating researchers to consult on the program’s implementation, and gave research presentations and lectures. Director Shibata was accompanied by Associate Professor Maiko Raita from Osaka University and LL.M. candidate Ms Fumika Iwama at Kobe University GSICS, who have implemented their early-career initiatives under the Program (detailed reports will be available under the dedicated JSPS Program webpage around mid-June).
April 1, 2025
PCRC Homepage renewal is undergoing: until mid-June 2025
Over the last 10 years starting from 2015, PCRC has been implementing the Japanese flagship Arctic research projects, ArCS and ArCS II, which has come to an end on March 31, 2025. Replacing them is the newly funded JSPS Core-to-Core Program on Antarctic Governance, and PCRC will literally be the CORE of world-wide research network on Antarctic governance, in collaboration with University of Tasmania (UTAS) and Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI). PCRC will continue to engage with the Arctic issues within the framework of another JSPS project on International Polar Law (up to March 2029). At this juncture, the PCRC homepage will undergo a renewal, expected until mid-June 2025. PCRC will be reborn, and please don’t miss it in June!
April 1, 2025
PCRC as its interim secretariat opened the official homepage of Polar Law Symposium
Director Shibata of PCRC has been instrumental in supporting, planning and operationalizing the Polar Law Symposium (PLS) and its Yearbook of Polar Law (YPL) since he joined the Co-Editor-in-Chief in 2021, with Prof. Alfredsson at Stefasson Arctic Institute, Prof. Koivurova at University of Rovaniemi, and Senior Lecturer Hodgson-Johnston at University of Tasmania. Kobe PCRC has been designated as its interim secretariat in 2024 (with the financial support of JSPS project on International Polar Law) and, today, launched the first official homepage of Polar Law Symposium and The Yearbook of Polar Law. This homepage provides an easy-to-access, one-stop platform for all the basic information of the Symposium and the Yearbook. The host institution for the yearly symposium is still responsible for the dedicated webpage for that particular conference. Today, Polar Law Community Mailing List contains over 450 registrants, and the number is growing every year. Watch out for the exciting Polar Law scholarship in coming years!
Last updated June 11, 2025