Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC), Kobe University

PCRC welcomes students who would like to pursue graduate level studies (Ph.D. in Laws) specializing in international law, including Arctic and Antarctic legal and policy studies, under the supervision of Professor Akiho Shibata, Director of the PCRC. For the enrollment in 2025, it is strongly recommended to simultaneously apply for the Japanese government scholarship by the end of May this year. Please see the details from here .

In October last year, a submarine telecommunication cable connecting Finland and Estonia under the Baltic Sea had been damaged in what may have been a deliberate act. Development and protection of submarine cables in the Arctic is crucially important for social and economic development of the Arctic peoples as well as for stronger connectivity between Japan on one hand and North America and Europe on the other. Under the leadership of Director Shibata, ArCS II International Law Program has published a Fact Sheet as its 10th volume of Briefing Paper Series (BPS) on “Protection of Submarine Cables in the Arctic”. This Fact Sheet describes concisely the current situation and plans regarding the pan-Arctic submarine cables development and the legal frameworks protecting such important infrastructure. It also describes recent responses, such as the Coordination Cell for Critical Subsea Infrastructure established by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a Memorandum of Cooperation between Japan and EU signed in July 2023. For press release and the download, access here.

PCRC will convene its 27th international law seminar entitled "Governing Glacial Geoengineering at the South Pole? The political and legal risks of ‘ice sheet conservation’ in Antarctica", with Associate Professor Patrick Flamm as our main speaker. There is a growing academic debate about the potential of supporting glacial stability through artificial infrastructures such as underwater curtains (see recent Nature article below). Inviting an Antarctic sea-ice specialist from Hokkaido University as a commentator, this seminar leads off such a critical discussion based on a multi-disciplinary collaborative research approach. Pre-registration is required through website by February 29. For the details, please refer to the flyer.

Dr. Patrick Florian Flamm, Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, will be our Visiting Associate Professor for one and half month under Kobe University Strategic International Collaboration Grant Type C project on “The Rule-based International Order after the Russian aggression of Ukraine: Multidisciplinary research”. During his stay at PCRC, Dr. Flamm and Director Shibata will conduct collaborative research on ice-geoenginnering applied to the Antarctic (see recent Nature article) and more generally on the changing geopolitical context of the Antarctic governance applying Patrick's theoretical framework of "co-opetition".

ArCS II International Law Research Program has published its 9th volume of Briefing Paper Series (BPS) “Türkiye’s engagement in the Arctic governance: its history and into the future”. The ninth volume of the BPS is a fact sheet describing Türkiye’s historical interest going back to its Ottoman Empire period in both the Arctic and the Antarctic, its current polar scientific activities and their projection into the future, and its (failed) 2015 application to gain an Observer status in the Arctic Council. It also noted that Turkey has a medium- to long-term strategy in the Arctic and the significance of becoming a signatory to the Svalbard Convention. For press release and the download, access here.

From 2022 with early career scholars Yelena Yermakova (Princeton University) and Rebecca Hingley (Australian Antarctic Division), Director Shibata has been planning for a special issue on The policy-law-science nexus in the Antarctic, and, finally, it was established in Antarctic Science, a WoS journal of Cambridge University Press. It is a subsection in the Special Collection entitled "Advances in Antarctic Humanities and Social Science Scholarship”. Director Shibata invites full papers that would examine how science-based decision-making is operationalized within the Antarctic context by studying the nexus between policy, law and science. Link to the Special Collection.

The entire videos from the international workshop on The Future of Antarctic Governance: Antarctic Environmental Liability and Lawyers’ Role in Consensus-building” held on December 1 are now available on YouTube. Please click here to view.

PCRC will convene an international workshop on “The Future of Antarctic Governance: Antarctic Environmental Liability and Lawyers’ Role in Consensus-building”, on December 1, Friday. This seminar will be held face-to-face at GSICS, Kobe University, Kobe-city, Japan. The lawyers and policy experts from four Asian Consultative Parties will gather in Kobe to discuss about the future of Antarctic governance under the Antarctic Treaty and its Environmental Protocol. We would like to invite you and your colleagues to engage in this exciting and important workshop in-person at the venue. It will also be available for auditing via ZOOM Webinar. Please see the flyer for more details. This flyer will be updated regularly until the start of the workshop.

In Vol. 117, Issue ４ of The American Journal of International Law, the highest impact factor international law journal in the world, Director Shibata has published a featured co-authored article with Professor Bastmeijer of Univerisity of Groningen, Senior Fellow Evan Bloom of Wilson Center and others, on the difficulties and possible solutions of the ATCM consensus-based decision making as regards Antarctic toursim regulation. As the Consultative Parties prepare to convene a Special Working Group on the issue at Indian ATCM in 2024, this Article not only is a significant academic achievements in detailed examination of its history and contexts, but also will provide a policy impetus for further effective regulations of ever-increasing and diversifying human activities in the Antarctic.
◦Open Access from this link
◦See Wilson Center's annoucement

PCRC welcomes the visit from University of Woolongong, Australia, of Ms. Anaïs Rémont, Ph. D candidate who is researching on the interaction between international legal regimes in the Southern Ocean under the direction of Distingushed Professor Stuart Kaye. She is originally from France. In our 26th International Law Seminar, Anaïs looks at the Antarctica' History and Challenges ahead through the lens of international law of the sea and newly adopted Agreement for the conservation and the sustainable use of Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). This seminar is open and we welcome your participation. For the details, please refere to the flyer.

Director Shibata and his ArCS II international law team, comprising of Profs. Nishimoto (Tohoku U), Osakada (Chuo U), Kojima (Chuo U), Kobayashi (Otaru Commercial U) and early career scholars Dr. Inagaki (Kobe U) and Mr. Suzuki (McGill U), in collaboration with international scholars such as Timo Koivurova (Lapland U), Rachael Lorna Johnstone (Akureyri), Hyoung Chul Shin (KOPRI), and Patrick Flamm (Frankfurt Peace Research Institute) will have their sessions and presentations at 2023 Arctic Circle Assembly at Reykjavik, Iceland, 19-22 October, and at 16th Polar Law Symposium at Torshavn, Faroe Islands, 25-28 October. Check out the latest programs from those two important Arctic and Antarctic conferences. Director Shibata will also give several lectures at University of Akureyri Polar Law Master’s Program, on October 16 (in-person) and November 27 (online).

The future of Antarctic governance under the Antarctic Treaty and its Environmental Protocol faces several challenges today, many of them involving intricate legal issues. One of them is the long-overdue entering into force of Annex VI on Environmental Liability. Lawyers and policy experts from four Asian Consultative Parties will gather in Kobe to discuss how they can assist in overcoming those challenges and strengthening the Antarctic governance under the Rule of Law. Request for in-person participation should be notified to the symposium secretariat as soon as possible. See the flyer for details.

Prof. Kees Bastmeijer, Professor of Arctic and Antarctic Studies, University of Groningen, The Netherland, will be our Visiting Professor for one month under Kobe University Strategic International Collaboration Grant Type C project on “The Rule-based International Order after the Russian aggression of Ukraine: Multidisciplinary research”. Prof. is one of leading experts in international legal research on nature conservation and polar environmental protection and participates in the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM) as a member of the Dutch delegation. During his stay, Kees and Director Shibata will conduct collaborative research on Antarctic tourism regulation and policy-law-science nexus for more effective Antarctic governance.
Photo:　At Odai Agata Shrine in Toyooka-City, Hyogo

Director Shibata was invited to engage with government officials, scholars, experts and Indigenous representatives gathered for the North Pacific Arctic Conference, the theme for 2023 being “Arctic Governance: Steering Through Sea Changes and Charting New Courses”, 16-18 August 2023, jointly organized by Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) and East-West Center (EWC) of the United States of America. Director Shibata will make a presentation in a session on Arctic science diplomacy, bringing his expertise on treaty-based international scientific cooperation schemes, namely Arctic Science Cooperation Agreement and Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement, with a comparative analysis of the Antarctic Treaty system. For details of the Conference, please see the EWC website.

With Mr. Evan Bloom from Wilson Center, USA, Prof. Kees Bastmeijer, University of Groningen, and chaired by Prof. Timo Koivurova, University of Lapland, Director Shibata talks on the challenges facing the Antarctic governance and possible solutions. The seminar featured many prominent speakers on major environmental challenges in Antarctica, including marine conservation; Antarctic policy perspectives from the point of view of the foreign affairs community; Antarctic science challenges including climate change; and academic views on challenges the Treaty System has faced in the past 25 years. The Antarctic governance session starts around 1:43:00 of the YouTube video. Enjoy!

The 45th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) will be convened on May 29 until June 9 in Helsinki, Finland. On the first day of the meeting, an Antactic public symposium, "Antarctica today, shared challenges for science and environmental protection in the final frontier" will be held, co-organised by the Finnish Foreign Ministry, Univeristy of Lapland, Wilson Center, and Kobe PCRC. In the academic session, Director Shibata will speak on the importance of science and scientific evidence in the ATCM's legal and policy making. Prof. Koivurova will chair the panel, while Prof. Bastmeijer and Mr. Bloom will join as other speakers. All of them are Kobe PCRC guests in recent months. Our panel will be around 14:00 (20:00 in JST) and will be live streamed. Please click to download the program for details.

Kobe PCRC will host JSPS fellows for academic year 2024 (arrival in Japan between April 2024 and March 2025). The JSPS fellowship offers generous financial support for various level of scholars from Postdocs, Mid-career to Professor Level with different length of stay in Japan. This fellowship is great opportunity, especially for early career researchers wishing to stay at Kobe PCRC to conduct relatively long-term collaborative research. For details, please see the Invitation as well as the JSPS Application Guidelines. Please note the deadline of some recruitments, including the 1st recruitment of Postdoctoral Fellowship is June 15th.

PCRC welcomes students who would like to pursue graduate level studies (Ph.D. in Laws) specializing in international law, including Arctic and Antarctic legal and policy studies, under the supervision of Professor Akiho Shibata, Director of the PCRC. For the enrollment in 2024, it is strongly recommended to simultaneously apply for the Japanese government scholarship by the end of May this year. Please click the image for the details. The useful information regarding GSICS, PCRC and MEXT scholarship are also available in our YouTube video.

Dr. Ekaterina Antsygina, a Russian early career scholar, currently doing a postdoctoral research at University of Hamburg, Germany, will discuss likely scenarios for the future delimitation of the extended continental shelves in the Central Arctic Ocean between Canada, Denmark, and Russia, taking into account the most recent Russian submission to CLCS. This case is also interesting from the perspective of continuing Arctic cooperation under the law of the sea (UNCLOS) among the Arctic coastal states even during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

PCRC Director Shibata’s two peer-reviewed papers are published, both analyzing the implications of Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Arctic scientific cooperation and the Arctic governance structures more generally. First is co-authored with Prof. Alexander Sergunin and entitled: “Implementing the 2017 Arctic Science Cooperation Agreement: Challenges and Opportunities as regards Russian and Japan”, Yearbook of Polar Law, Vol.14. Second is co-authored with Prof. Timo Koivurova and is entitled: “After the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022: Can we still cooperate with Russia in the Arctic?", in Polar Record, Vol. 59 (Cambridge UP). Both are open access.

The PCRC is delighted to welcome the participation of and presentation by Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, the Rector of the University of Akureyri, Iceland, in our 24th PCRC International Law Seminar on Monday 13 March at 14:00. Under the title 'Governance and Global Challenges: The Future of International Law in the Polar Regions', an associate professor and two early-career scholars from Denmark and United Kingdom will address the role of actors in relation to Arctic shipping, the Arctic Indigenous rights, and Arctic ocean acidification. Professor Koivurova and Director Shibata will act as commentators. This seminar will only be held on-site. Please register in advance at the URL below and join at the venue. Registration is open until Tuesday, 28 February. https://forms.gle/orx9ExLiVhS418dVA

Ms Ana Stella Ebbersmeyer, PhD student at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, will start as a visiting researcher at PCRC Kobe University on 31 January. She will conduct research the main theme of “The regulation of black carbon emissions in Arctic shipping: the role of actors “on international law and climate change. During her stay, she will present her research “The Regulation of Black Carbon Emissions in Arctic Shipping: the Role of Actors” on ISAR-7 in Tokyo and at the seminar to be organized by PCRC, Kobe University on 13 March.

PCRC will convene an open seminar by Mr. Evan Bloom, Senior Fellow, Wilson Centre, USA and former Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, on March 2nd (Thursday). This seminar will be held face-to-face at GSICS, Kobe University. Mr. Evan Bloom, as a Keynote Speaker, will discuss the recent US Arctic Strategy and the future of polar governance in light of geopolitical challenges, as well as the role of US, Japan, China and Russia. Timo Koivurova, Visiting Professor at Kobe University, will act as a discussant. Pre-registration by February 28 (extended) is requested. For the details, click the flyer.

In conjunction with several Arctic international events being held in Tokyo (Arctic Circle Japan Forum, 4-6 March, and ISAR-7, 6-10 March), PCRC plans to convene publicly open, in-person international seminars on 2 March (Thursday) with Mr. Evan Bloom at Wilson Center, USA, as a keynote speaker, and on 13 March (Monday), both at Kobe University, Kobe, Japan. For the 13 March seminar on “Governance and Global Challenges: The Future of International Law in the Polar Regions”, PCRC is inviting polar researchers to submit abstracts by 10 February. This seminar aims to bring together established scholars and early-career researchers from the fields of international law, international relations, and security to discuss the unique current and future challenges facing both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. For the details, click the flyer.

PCRC will hold an Antarctic Open Symposium "The Future of Antarctic Cooperation and Global Geopolitical Challenges" on December 2, as the second series of publicly open symposia on Antarctic governance and scientific cooperation. Professor Donald Rothwell of the Australian National University will be the keynote speaker, followed by Professor Joji Morishita (Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology), Professor Timo Koivurova (University of Lapland, Finland/Kobe University) and PCRC Director Akiho Shibata. The speakers will discuss the challenges and future of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS)　in a panel discussion with Dr. Takuji Nakamura, Professor Patrizia Vigni, and Research Fellow Dr. Zia Madani. The symposium will be conducted entirely in English, and online participation is possible. Registration by 1 December from the symposium website.

PCRC will convene an open seminar by Prof. Timo Koivurova, Visiting Professor, Kobe University and Research Professor at University of Lapland, Finland on November 28th (Monday). The seminar is face-to-face, with the possibility to observe online. If you cannot come to the venue, please contact PCRC for ZOOM link.
Prof. Timo Koivurova, an expert on Arctic international law and governance, currently visiting professor at Kobe University, will address the changing architecture of the Arctic governance in light of the Russian aggression of Ukraine, including the Arctic Council, the recent report on Finland's new role in the Arctic, and the potential consequences of Finland becoming a NATO member. Don’t miss this chance to discuss with Prof. Koivurova in person at GSICS! Please see the attached flyer for details.

Kobe University Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC) is honoured and delighted to receive Prof. Timo Koivurova, the world renowned expert on Arctic law and governance from Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Finland, as our visiting professor for 5 months, starting November 1, 2022. Timo's physical presence here will be extremely valuable not only for Kobe University but also for entire Japanese academic and policy circles interested in changing polar governance in light of the Russian aggression of Ukraine. Please follow all the events coming up with Prof. Koivurova in our PCRC website.

PCRC will hold an open seminar on the Science Diplomacy in the Arctic on November 9th. In this Seminar, Prof. Timo Koivurova, University of Lapland, Finland / Invited Professor of Kobe University (November 2022 - March 2023) will give the lecture. Prof. Koivurova is a leading expert of Arctic legal issues, and he will discuss about the future of Arctic Science Diplomacy in the Arctic Council after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Following his lecture, Prof. Koivurova, Amb. Keizo Takewaka (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan), and Prof. Hiroyuki Enomoto (National Institute pf Polar Research) will discuss expectations and potential contribution of Japan in Arctic Science Diplomacy, in a panel discussion, chaired by Professor Shibata, Director of the PCRC. The lecture by Prof. Koivurova and the following panel discussion will be conducted in English.
For the detail in English, please see the website of Kobe University.

Director Shibata and Dr. Madani from PCRC and six Master’s students from Kobe University will make research presentations at 15th Polar Law Symposium (PLS) and 2022 Arctic Circle Assembly (ACA) in Reykjavik, Iceland, October 12 -16. Please check the draft program by clicking the images. The highlight will be ACA session organized by Director Shibata on “Japan’s contribution to the Central Arctic Ocean Agreement: Science, Indigenous knowledge, and Rule of law” on 14th. Kobe students will make their presentations at 15 PLS on 13th. They will also visit University of Akureyri and Arctic Council’s CAFF and PAME secretariats in Akureyri, Iceland, on October 9-11. You can check the students’ activities from GSICS official Instagram.

PCRC will convene an open seminar by Prof. Kees Bastmeijer, Professor of Arctic and Antarctic Studies at University of Groningen, The Netherlands on September 28th (Wednesday). The seminar is face-to-face, with the possibility to observe online. If you cannot come to the venue, please contact PCRC Assist. Professor Furuhata for ZOOM link.
Professor Kees Bastmeijer is a JSPS invited fellow at PCRC, and he will talk on the significance and difficulties of consensus decision-making in the Antarctic Treaty System. Prof. Bastmeijer has been a member of the Dutch delegation to the Antarctic Treaty meetings, so he has an insider’s perspective on the issue. Don’t miss this chance to discuss with Prof. Bastmeijer in person at GSICS! Please see the attached flyer for details.

Professor Kees Bastmeijer, Director, Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, is our JSPS invited fellow and invited professor, Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC), Kobe University. PCRC is so grateful for his stay here until 30 September with a collaborative research topic on "International Decision-Making in the Antarctic Treaty System and the Role of Soft Law". Photo with Zia Madani, another JSPS postdoctoral research fellow 2021-23, at the Main Entrance of Kobe University under an early autumn (still 30℃) blue sky.

Dr. Osamu Inagaki and Dr. Zia Madani, as rapporteurs of the Arctic Science Diplomacy Webinar Series convened in collaboration with ArCS II and Harvard University in February to March 2022, have just published a co-authored, comprehensive and insightful report. Despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, distinguished Arctic science experts and participants from 49 countries discussed the challenges of the Arctic science cooperation, and one of its important messages is that it is essential to continue an inclusive dialogue among relevant stakeholders such as scientists from both Arctic and non-Arctic countries, indigenous peoples, young scholars, policy makers and funding institutions in order to enhance international scientific cooperation. This report is freely downloadable (click the picture).

The Polar Journal, a Taylor & Francis CiteScore (Scopus) Q1 journal, is uniquely focusing on publishing humanities and social sciences research articles relating to both poles. As of August 5, Director Shibata assumed its editorial board member with responsibility in "Science/Policy Interface" subject area. The Polar Journal has a close link with the work of SCAR SC-HASS. Director Shibata is also a co-editor-in-chief of Brill's Yearbook of Polar Law and a editorial advisory member of Cambridge UP's Polar Record.

Director Shibata is co-leading a parallel session at the SCAR Open Science Conference (OSC), the world largest Antarctic academic gathering, this time entirely online. On 3rd and 4th August, in the session, "Aggression and the Antarctic Treaty System: The End of Antarctic Exceptionalism (Director Shibata), "The Resilience of the Antarctic Treaty System in light of Russian Invasion of Ukraine" (Dr. Zia Madani), "The Development of Concept of Cumulative Impacts under the Antarctic Treaty System" (Dr. Osamu Inagaki), and other interesting presentations will be made. Don't miss it. Registration is free and open to all interested. https://app.scar2022.org/login.php

On 8 June 2022, the Seven Arctic States, except Russia, have announced a joint statement that they intend to implement a limited resumption of the Arctic Council work in projects that do not involve the participation of Russia. After announcing the pause in all Arctic Council work in their 3 March statement, this is the first stage of what they called “necessary modalities” to continue the work of the Council in light of the Russian aggression of Ukraine on 24 February. For the details with background information, please see Dr. Zia Madani’s analytical note.

An online seminar by Prof. Alexander Sergunin from St. Petersburg State University in Russian Federation provided excellent opportunities to discuss recent Arctic legal issues, including extended continental shelf submission to the UN Commission and the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Prof. Sergunin is a JSPS invited fellow, visiting Kobe University from April to mid-June 2022. In his talk, Prof. Sergunin also touched upon the implications of the Ukraine crisis upon those issues. A lively discussion followed, as questions were raised by 13+ participants from both ArCS II international law and international relations research programs on Russian attitude towards the Arctic Council under its chairmanship, the effect of Russian “non-friendly nations” identification in relation to the use of NSR, etc. Participants recognized the importance of continuing researcher-level dialogue even during the war. The opportunity to interact frankly and academically with the Russian Arctic authority in the midst of the Ukrainian aggression was important.

Kobe PCRC will host JSPS fellows for academic year 2023 (arrival in Japan between April 2023 and March 2024). The JSPS fellowship offers generous financial support for various level of scholars from Postdocs, Mid-career to Professor Level with different length of stay in Japan. This fellowship is great opportunity, especially for early career researchers wishing to stay at Kobe PCRC to conduct relatively long-term collaborative research. For details, please see the Invitation as well as the JSPS Application Guidelines. Please note the deadline of some recruitments, including the 1st recruitment of Postdoctoral Fellowship is July 1st.

In midst of Ukraine invasion, PCRC with Harvard University co-organized the webinar series on Arctic science diplomacy, with speakers from Arctic and non-Arctic states including Russia, in February and March 2022. While some participants withdrew, Director Shibata with close consultation with Paul Arthur Berkman and Jenny Baeseman maintained the webinars, noting that promotion of Arctic science through diplomacy is for ensuring the sustainability of all under the climate crisis. The co-authored correspondence article in Nature, Vol.604, argues: “Informed decision-making operates across a continuum of urgencies, short- to long-term, from pandemic to climate timescales” and even the war “for the sustainability of all” and “the importance of open science with both allies and adversaries for our shared survival” should be conveyed. A strong message from Director Shibata and his research group in Nature with its impact factor 49.962.

Yermakova provided her perspective to the conversations about potential spillover effects of the ongoing war in Ukraine onto Antarctic governance, specifically on the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) which is scheduled for the upcoming week in Berlin. Daily Maverick article raises the question of whether Russia and Belarus should be banned from the ATCM in light of the events and how the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) can and should respond to one of the signatory states invading another. While some scholars, such as Dr. Hemmings argued that Russia and Belarus should be prevented from attending or that the meeting should be cancelled this year to signal the Treaty parties' condemnation for Kremlin actions, other scholars, Yermakova included, urge to be careful with the boycott diplomacy. Yermakova suggests that international institutions such as the ATS should maintain their main function of coordination and communication. Especially at times such as current events, she argues, it is important to have a platform to develop a language of reason. Furthermore, Yermakova stresses the importance of considering the potential impact of boycott diplomacy, as this would create a likely scenario of isolated states engaging in illegal and unregulated activities in Antarctica.

The GSICS special　seminar / The 20th PCRC International Law Seminar by Prof. Alexander Sergunin (St. Petersburg University, International Relations) attracted 30 GSICS students as well as faculty members from international law and international relations. Prof. Sergunin explained comprehensively the difficulties as well as remaining possibilities for Arctic international cooperation in light of Ukraine crisis. During the discussion, a student reminded ourselves the need of frank but academic discussion in-person with Russian scholars particularly in these difficult times. Participating students posed penetrating questions such as the changes in word-order structure and its relation to the Arctic governance, the applicability of so-called “Arctic exceptionalism” in this case, the effects on Russian-China relations, and possibility of peaceful resolution of the Ukraine dispute. Prof. Sergunin responded honestly providing further insights for understanding the situation. The opportunity to interact academically with the Russian authority on the Arctic in the midst of the Ukrainian invasion was very much appreciated by all participants.

ArCS II International Law Research Program has published its 7th volume of Briefing Paper Series (BPS) “Ocean Acidification in the Arctic – Scientific and Governance Responses”. This is a fact sheet based on the session "Polar Governance in the Anthropocene: The case of Ocean Acidification" at the 14th Polar Law Symposium (PLS) with the presentations by Professor Tim Stephens (University of Sydney, Australia) and Dr. Naomi Harada (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology). The 7th volume was a product of a new initiative of engaging early-career scholars in the work of PCRC. The co-author, Jen Evans (University of Denver, USA), is a Ph.D. candidate and was selected as one of the 14 PLS fellows, funded by ArCS II. For press release and the download, access here.

As a reply to Dr. Alan Hemmings’ article, Director Shibata examines the legal complexities involved in possible measures by the host government of Germany, in consultation with some like-minded Parties but never by the consensus of all the Consultative Parties, in the upcoming 44th Meeting of the ATCM to prevent the Russian and Belarusian delegations from participating in the Meeting, to be held at Berlin, only 900 km from the border between Ukraine and Poland, and in light of the difficulties posed by the Ukraine delegation to effectively participate in the Meeting. Director Shibata demonstrates in his reply a tenuous legal justification for such a measure, which could amount as an infringement of participatory right of Russia under the Antarctic Treaty, to be permissible under international law; and he cautions that these exchanges of temporary suspensions of Treaty provisions may well be the beginning of a permanent dysfunction of the Antarctic Treaty System as a whole. Web-based Polar Connection has thousands of readers, and these academic exchanges will definitely have policy impacts.

ArCS II International Law Research Program has published the sixth volume of its “Briefing Paper Series (BPS)”, “Environmental regulation of Arctic shipping: Recent developments”. The purpose of the BPS is to share our results with Arctic stakeholders and the general public and contribute to open discussions on Arctic issues.
The sixth volume of the BPS is a fact sheet describing recent discussions in international forums on environmental regulations to reduce and mitigate the impact of shipping in the Arctic region, focusing on efforts at the Arctic Council and international rule and standard making at the International Maritime Organization (IMO). For press release and the download, access this page.

PCRC welcomes students who would like to pursue graduate level studies (LL.M. and Ph.D. in Laws) specializing in the fields of Arctic legal issues, the Antarctic Treaty System, the law of the sea, and/or international environmental law, under the supervision of Professor Akiho Shibata, Director of the PCRC. For the enrollment in April or October 2023, it is strongly recommended to simultaneously apply for the Japanese government scholarship by the end of May this year. Please click the image for the details. Please also refer to useful information regarding GSICS, PCRC and MEXT scholarship in powerpoint presentation file(PDF).

Under ArCS II project, Kobe PCRC in collaboration with Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) will co-organize three webinars on Arctic Science Diplomacy on February 21, March 10 and 24. Inviting prominent Arctic scientists and decision-makers as plenary keynote speakers, the webinars will consider relationships and synergies between the 2017 Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation and the Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM) process that began in 2016 with dialogues among Arctic and non-Arctic states as well as Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations. Registration by February 11 is strongly recommended. For details and registration, please access this site.

ArCS II International Law Briefing Paper Series Volume 4 is a Fact Sheet (Japanese only) and addresses a comparative analysis of official Arctic policies of the three East Asian, leading non-Arctic States, namely Japan, China and Republic of Korea. As Japan looks towards updating its 2015 Arctic policy, an in-depth analysis of the substantive content of those countries’ Arctic policy official documents, in light of their academic analyses so far, will be crucial to be summarized and recorded. This Fact Sheet is a by-product of a joint master’s thesis supervision scheme between Kobe University GSICS and Polar Law Program of the University of Akureyri in Iceland, where the co-author, Mr. Medy Dervovic, had submitted his master thesis in May 2021 under the supervision of Director Shibata. For press release (in Japanese only) and the download, access this page.

On 21-23 November 2021, 14th Polar Law Symposium was held in hybrid format, providing the polar law community from around the world with the opportunity to make a total of 54 live oral presentations and 13 pre-recorded video/ppt presentations for online on-demand viewing. One of the highlights was Prof. Gudmundur Alfredsson’s keynote speech on “Country visits: Ainu and the Arctic” where he revealed the inside stories of UN visit to the Ainu community in 1991 (photo).　Under the prolonging COVID-19 situation, researchers residing in Japan were delighted to resume "face-to-face" discussion, while participants overseas gathered online and discussed with colleagues at the venue and online.

On 18-19 November 2021, for the first time in Asia, the biennial academic conference of the Standing Committee on Humanities and Social Sciences (SC-HASS) under SCAR was held at Kobe University in hybrid format, with a total of 84 live oral presentations and 18 pre-recorded video/ppt presentations for online on-demand viewing. One of the highlights of the conference was the Lewander Lecture by Dr. Cornelia Lüdecke, where she outlined the historic development of the SC-HASS community in parallel with the Antarctic discoveries. The opening Japan Session (photo) also attracted attention from around the world where Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE)’s contribution to the HASS studies was discussed. The video of the Japan Session is available from YouTube.

PCRC will hold an open seminar by Prof. Kees Bastmeijer, an authority on international environmental law from 15:00 on December 7, 2021 (Tuesday).
Professor Keith Bastmeijer is visiting professor at the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University / professor of the University of Tilburg, the Netherlands. He is a leading expert of International Environmental Law and EU law especially on the protection of natural environment and Wilderness.
Prior to the start of his research in Japan as JSPS invited researcher, he will share the thoughts on the implications for international environmental law from the culture of indigenous peoples, including the Ainu people, focusing on the "relationship between humans and nature."
Please see the attachment for details.

Former PCRC fellow (2017-18), Dr. Marzia Scopelliti has published a book Non-Governmental Actors in International Climate Change Law: The case of Arctic Indigenous Peoples in our dear series Routledge Research in Polar Law. This book is based on her doctoral dissertation submitted to Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. Congratulations! When Marzia was here at PCRC, she was working hard on this issue, while assisting us in the operation of the Centre.

Director Shibata contributed Chapter 22 on “Good Faith” in this book, which is a leading reference providing comprehensive discussion of the dynamic and important fields of international law relating to the environment and ecosystem. Among the 68 chapters authored by 76 renowned experts in their fields, Director Shibata is the only Japanese among them. In his review, Philippe Sands worte: “a work of supreme importance for our times, bringing together writers and thinkers on the cutting edge, one that offers a truly global and balanced perspective on all matters ecological". For the detail.

The application by Director Shibata as the Principal Investigator of a new research project under JSPS funding, “The Resilience of the Antarctic Treaty System under the Anthropocene” was adopted for five years, starting from July 2015 until March 2026, with the total funding of 25,610,000 JPY (or 197,000 Euro). This is an interdisciplinary research with Antarctic scientists from JAMSTEC and Hokkaido University Institute of Low Temperature Research.

Kobe PCRC will host JSPS fellows for academic year 2022 (arrival in Japan between April 2022 and March 2023). The JSPS fellowship offers generous financial support for various level of scholars from Postdocs, Mid-career to Professor Level with different length of stay in Japan. This fellowship is great opportunity, especially for early career researchers wishing to stay at Kobe PCRC to conduct relatively long-term collaborative research. For details, please see the Invitation as well as the JSPS Application Guidelines. Please note the deadline of some recruitments, including the 1st recruitment of Postdoctoral Fellowship is August 19th.

PCRC is proud to host again the 14th Polar Law Symposium on November 21-23, 2021. With a poetic conference theme of “The Blue Earth, from the Poles, through the Law” and a healing conference theme song and a vibrant Japanese calligraphy “Kyoku” (meaning “poles”), we welcome all polar law and policy scholars to submit abstracts by August 2. There are several opportunities for fellowships and travel bursaries. Please check the dedicated webite.

Co-hosted by PCRC and the National Institute of Polar Research, this event was convened to commemorate the 60 years of its entering into force on June 23, 1961. Masataka OKANO, Director-General, International Legal Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan gave a keynote speech on Rule of law in Antarctica. In the panel discussion amongst the Antarctic scientists, a news reporter, an international relations scholar, and an international lawyer, it became evident that there are gaps in the perceptions of how the Antarctic Treaty System is operating and that the gap-filling exercise would be necessary to have coherent Antarctic policies towards the ATCM to be held in Japan in 2026. Now, the on-demand videos are available from the conference website.

Kobe PCRC is hosting the biennial academic conference of theStanding Committee on Humanities and Social Sciences (SC-HASS) under the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) on November 18-19. This is the first time in its history the SC-HASS biennial conference comes to Asia. It is expected that the conference will be held in hybrid format with several opportunities to participate also via online. Now, the abstract submission portal is open and the call for abstracts is until August 2.

Kobe PCRC is offering one research fellowship for a maximum of three months in the period from November 2021 to March 2022. For details, please refer to the announcement. The deadline for application is 2 August 2021. Please note that the accepted fellow must be based physically in Kobe, and Kobe PCRC will not take any responsibility for the eventual cancellation of your visit to Kobe due to those governmental restrictions as well as the availability of travel means to come to Kobe.

PCRC welcomes students who would like to pursue graduate level studies (LL.M. and Ph.D. in Laws) specializing in the fields of Arctic legal issues, the Antarctic Treaty System, the law of the sea, and/or international environmental law, under the supervision of Professor Akiho Shibata, Director of the PCRC. For the enrollment in April or October 2022, it is strongly recommended to simultaneously apply for the Japanese government scholarship by the end of May this year. Please see the details in the attachment.

Director Shibata and Dr. Julia Jabour (University of Tasmania) are co-editing a new book on Resilience of the Antarctic Treaty System to Future Challenges, and 12 chapter authors convened an online meeting to present their progress. Director Shibata presented on the progress on Chapter 6 on Jurisdiction, whereas Dr. Indi Hodgson-Johnston (University of Tasmania) presented on Chapter 5 on Sovereignty, Professor Kees Bastmeijer (Tilburg University) on Chapter 8 on Commercial challenges, and Professor David Leary (University of Technology Sydney) on Chapter 3 on Science and Cooperation. The Antarctic Treaty is celebrating its 60th birthday on 23 June 2021 after entering into force in 1961, and this Book will provide an evidence-based exposition of legal developments under ATS over the last 60 years to address several challenges the system has faced and is facing today.

The aim of this seminar was to share recent activities and to initiate discussion among the research community on future cooperation between Japan and Iceland, as the 3rd Arctic Science Ministerial will be co-hosted by these two countries in May. At this seminar, Director Shibata and Professor Rachael Lorna Johnstone (University of Akureyri) jointly reported on the cooperative relationship in the Master's Program in Polar Law and related International Law between Kobe University and Akureyri University since 2015. During the Q & A session, there was an exchange of views on the possible joint research topics that researchers from both countries might work on under ArCS II. In particular, strong interest were expressed by the participants in the Arctic marine plastic problems.

Briefing Paper Series (BPS) Volume 2 is a Fact Sheet in Japanese on Arctic marine plastic problems, and Volume 3 is a Policy Brief in Japanese on Japan’s engagement in the Arctic during ArCS project. This is the first Policy Brief of the Series and written by four early-career scholars from Belgium, Japan and the United States. The Policy Brief evaluates the effectiveness of Japan’s engagement in the Arctic Council meetings during the ArCS project 2015-20 and the successes and challenges in the implementation of Japan’s Arctic Policy announced in 2015. The press releases are published for both documents (Japanese only) and the original documents can be downloaded from the following sites: Volume 2 and Volume 3

The annual Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2021 has been held entirely online hosted by Portugal from March 19-26. Director Shibata participated in the IASC Social and Human Working Group (SHWG) as a member, and, co-authored with Abe Kie (PCRC Research Fellow) and Professor Hiroyuki Enomoto (NIPR), made a poster presentation on “Connecting policy, law and science for better decision-making for the Arctic: Arctic Council, IPCC, Arctic Science Agreement and ASM-3”. Professor Kentaro Nishimoto made an oral presentation on “The BBNJ agreement and the implementation of ecosystem-based management in the Central Arctic Ocean”

For the first time in its 13-years of history , the annual Polar Law Symposium has come to Asia in November 2020, and, PCRC was proud to organize the Symposium, entirely online due to COVID-19, taking the initiative in convening several panels and live seminars. Among them was a Panel on Policy-Law-Science Nexus in Polar Regions, co-convened by Director Shibata and Professor Enomoto at NIPR. For a concise summary of the symposium, please see a conference report published (by Assistant Professor Furuhata of PCRC). Now, a detailed research outcome report is available: see here .

Dr. Zia Madani, prospective JSPS postdoctoral research fellow at Kobe PCRC, and Gustavo Ramirez Bushheister, a fellow of the Policy-Law-Science Nexus Panel at 13 PLS, have published their conference reports in a very influential peer-reviewed journal, The Polar Journal. Zia and Gustavo are early-career scholars engaged in SCAR SC-HASS Action Group on PoLSciNex and Antarctic Treaty System Resilience book project, both led by Director Shibata. For details, see here.

The Research Program on International Law under the ArCS II project (2020-2025) will publish briefing papers on topical issues of Arctic international legal and policy interests, their main readers being Arctic stakeholders and general public, so as to feed our research results into the related public debates. The first volume is a Fact Sheet on “Arctic Marine Plastic Problems: Potential collaborative research between international law and marine sciences”. This Fact Sheet is based on academic presentations given during the 13th Polar Law Symposium in November 2020 and on further elaborations through collaborative research undertaken by the Research Programs on International Law and Marine Sciences under the ArCS II project and the Ocean Policy Research Institute. See the press release here .

Ten papers exploring the sustainability of Arctic resource development have been published online as a special issue of Polar Record, a prestigious polar research journal from Cambridge University Press. It contains research articles and commentaries by international law scholars, a political scientist, a glaciologist and an expert working for a Japanese Resource Development Corporation. This is the first time that so many interdisciplinary research papers by Japanese researchers have been published together under a unified theme in Polar Record. See the press release here from ArCS II .

Director Shibata has joined G. Alfredsson, J. Jabour and T. Koivurova in co-editing the one and only international legal journal on polar law, The Yearbook of Polar Law published from Brill. In volume 12 with all contributions being peer-reviewed, Osamu Inagaki, PCRC researcher, has published an article on Antarctic airlink DROMLAN and its legal challenges. Sakiko Hataya, GSICS doctoral student, has published an article analyzing the controversial Chinese ASMA proposal at its Kunlun Station in Dome A, Antarctica. Both Osamu and Sakiko were joined by Romain Chuffart and Lindsay Arthur, former PCRC research fellows, in publishing an article assessing Japan’s Arctic engagement during the ArCS Project 2015-20.

Director Shibata, with Dr. Julia Jabour of University of Tasmania and Invited Professor, Kobe University (2019 and 2020), is leading a book project that will investigate the normative and institutional components of the Antarctic Treaty System, by themes, to test their legal strength and resilience against a range of perceived or actual challenges that have been claimed by some international relations scholars as well as in media. The team of legal experts as authors represents a wide geographical scope as well as a variety of perspectives, with substantive engagement from many early-career scholars. The book is due to be published in 2021, the 60th commemorative year of the Antarctic Treaty entering into force. See the reports from previous meetings here.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and after careful consultation with the advisory committee, Kobe PCRC will now host the 14th Polar Law Symposium in the fall of 2021. The details will be provided later. For the 13th Symposium, it will be held as a Special Online Session and the online presentation opportunities will be provided during November this year. For details including the treatment of abstracts already submitted, please see the homepage . Abstract submission portal is closed on 5 June 2020.

With an expert lawyer from Finland, Dr. Seita Romppanen, and a scientist, Dr. Junko Toyoshima from OPRI, moderated by PCRC Senior Research Fellow, Dr. Kie Abe, the panelists dissussed the current situation surrounding plastic pollution in the Arctic and the existing legal framework to address it. It came to be clear that the Arctic marine plastic pollution poses particular challenges and requires tailored-made legal responses. The marine scientists from the audience injected information on recent scientific collaborative efforts to more precisely identify the problems and emphasized the need for strengthen international efforts to tackle the Arctic marine plastic problems.

Kobe PCRC is now offering to host a few scholars who are interested in collaborative research on Arctic and/or Antarctic legal and policy issues starting in the second half of 2021 academic year (arrival date between August/September 2021 and March 2022). The Centre particularly welcomes fellows whose stay in Kobe coincide with 14th Polar Law Symposium to be held in November 2021 in Kobe, Japan. The deadline for a notification of interest is 04 December 2020. For details, please refer to announcement.

Director Shibata has again succeeded in obtaining a research fund from Mitsubishi Foundation totaling 7,500,000JPY from October 2020 to March 2022 on “The Future of the Antarctica: A Comprehensive Research in Preparation for 2025 ATCM in Japan”. This is an interdisciplinary and inclusive dialogue-oriented research on legal, policy, scientific and logistical challenges the Antarctic Treaty System will face in the near future, to prepare for the agenda items of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) expected to be hosted by Japan in 2025.

Kobe PCRC is offering one research fellowship for a maximum of three months in the period from October 2020 to March 2021. For details, please refer to the announcement. The deadline for application is 30 July 2020. Pleases note that the accepted fellow must be based physically in Kobe, and Kobe PCRC cannot take any responsibility for possible cancellation of international travels due to immigration and other governmental policies.

Designing Resilient International Legal Regimes for a Sustainable Arctic and the Contribution of Japan: This research aims to create a blueprint for resilient international regimes to support the sustainability of the transforming Arctic region, based on evidence-based research on international law and policy related to the Arctic. Maintaining and strengthening the rule of law in the Arctic region is a pillar of Japan’s Arctic policy. Director Shibata is leading a team of about 15 Japanese lawyers to implement this research program with annual budget of about 20,000,000JPY for five years until March 2025. Please see the dedicated webpage for research results .

New PCRC Working Paper No.12 by Mr. Andreas Raspotnik, Andreas Østhagen & Charles Colgan “Discussing the Blue Arctic Economy - A Case Study of Fisheries in Alaska and North Norway”, based on the presentation at the PCRC 17th International Law Seminar Series, is now available. Please see PCRC Working Paper Series.

The objective of this research is to study how to achieve sustainable use of Arctic resources (e.g. oil & gas development, fisheries in the CAO and the Arctic Ocean as a sea route) from an international legal perspective with particular attention to indigenous peoples and environmental protection. This research attempts to discuss not only with researchers but also with private companies who are involved in developing resources in the Arctic. The funding is for two years from April 2020 to March 2020, with total budget of 6,000,000JPY.

Due to the coordination with a special seminar on Arctic law and policy to be held on 5 March, Professor Sergunin's seminar on "Russia's Arctic Strategies: The Prospects for International Cooperation” has been rescheduled from 13 March to 5 March. This seminar will be convened in conjunction with the 17th PCRC international law seminar. For details, please see the seminar flyer.

PCRC held four special panels at the 12th Polar Law Symposium in Hobart, on December 3, 2019. Reports on the panels are now available at the links below: PCRC-ArCS Special Session and Resilience of the Antarctic Treaty System to Future Challenges.

The report of the special session on Antarctic Treaty System Resilience at PLS12, organised by Kobe PCRC, is now available: Kobe PCRC Special Session – Antarctic Treaty System Resilience.

PCRC Special Panels at the 12th Polar Law Symposium in Hobart, Tasmania, was successfully completed. At the panels, 15 presentations are given by distinguished scholars and early-career researchers from all over the world.

At 12th Polar Law Symposium held in Hobart, Tasmania, 1-4 December 2019, the PCRC four special panels: Two on Post-ArCS research agenda for Arctic legal and policy studies, and two on Antarctic Treaty System Resilience/Policy-Law-Science Nexus in Antarctica  was successfully completed. Expanded abstracts are now available from the above links.

Kobe PCRC organized two special panels, in collaboration with the SCAR-SCHASS Action Group on PoLSciNex, at the 12th Polar Law Symposium .

On November 26, 2019 PCRC convened the 16th PCRC international law seminar. In this seminar, Professor Brooks Kaiser , from University of Southern Denmark, and Associate Professor Chris Horbel , from University of Southern Denmark and Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, gave a presentation on "Sustainable Arctic Marine Tourism: Challenges and Opportunities". For details, please see the seminar flyer.

Extended abstract of the presentations at the PCRC-ArCS Special Session on Antarctic are now available.

New PCRC Working Paper No.11 by Mr. Bruce Harland “Arctic Economic Council: A Resource for Business Development in the Arctic”, based on the presentation at the PCRC 4th Symposium, is now available. Please see PCRC Working Paper Series.

The Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC) was pleased to receive as our main speaker, Professor Donald Rothwell of Australian National University, one of the leading experts in international polar law and the law of the sea, in our 15th international law seminar entitled “Dispute Settlement under the Antarctic Treaty System” to be held on 12 July 2019. For details, please see the seminar flyer.

Kobe PCRC is offering a few collaborative research positions funded by the competitive Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellowship program for the academic year 2020 (arrival in Kobe between April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021). For details, please see the announcement.
Please note particularly that Kobe PCRC will be hosting the 13th Polar Law Symposium on 23-25 November 2020. Thus, we particularly welcome those fellows whose stay coincides with the Kobe symposium in November 2020. The deadline for a notification of interest is 30 July 2019.

Kobe PCRC, in collaboration with SCAR-SCHASS Action Group on PoLSciNex, will convene two special panels at the 12th Polar Law Symposium , to be held in Hobart, Tasmania, 1-4 December 2019. See details here.

Professor Shibata gave a plenary speech on “The Antarctic Treaty System: Its Achievements and Future Challenges” at 8th Malaysian International Seminar on Antarctica (MISA-8) , held at University Putra Malaysia.

On June 11 PCRC convened the 14th PCRC international law seminar. In this seminar, Dr. Christoph Humrich, Visiting Associate Professor, GSICS, Kobe University, and Assistant Professor for International Relations and Security Studies, and Associated Researcher at the Arctic Centre of the University of Groningen, will give a presentation on "The politics of marine protected areas in the Arctic: What drives (or: drove not) the process?". For this presentation, Dr. Leilei Zou, Professor of Shanghai Ocean University, JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow and Dr. Osamu Inagaki, PRCR Researcher, will serve as a commentator. For details, please see the seminar flyer.

On May 23, 2019 PCRC convened the 13th PCRC international law seminar. In this seminar, Dr. Barry Zellen, from Center for Arctic Study and Policy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy and research fellow at University of Connecticut, will give a presentation on "Cold War in the Warming Arctic? The Return of Westphalian State Competition to the High North, and the Consequences for 'Arctic Exceptionalism'". For details, please see the seminar flyer.

At the 12th Polar Law Symposium in Hobart, Tasmania (1-4 December 2019), PCRC will establish a special session comprising of two panels: “International law for the Arctic: The future agenda for post-ArCS legal and policy research 2020-25” and “The resilience of the Antarctic Treaty System to the current and future challenges”. The travel funding will be available for successful presenters. For details, see the symposium website .

A new book under the ArCS, Emerging Legal Orders in the Arctic: The Role of Non-Arctic Actors , edited by Professor Shibata, Director of the Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC), Kobe University with young PCRC young foreign fellows, has been published from Routledge as the first volume the Routledge Research in Polar Law series.

Dr. Christoph Humrich, Assistant Professor for International Relations and Security Studies, and Associated Researcher at the Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, The Netherlands will assume as a visiting associate professor of GSICS and PCRC fellow from April 15 - July 5, 2019. Please see “Who Runs the Centre?” for further profiles.

Prof. Shibata, Director of the PCRC, attended the Standing Committee on Humanities and Social Sciences (SC-HASS) under Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research (SCAR), held in the Antarctic gateway city of Ushuaia, Argentina, 3-5 April 2019). See the details from here.

On February 5, PCRC convened the 11th and 12th international law seminar. In this seminar, Mr. Romain F.R. Chuffart, LL.D. Candidate, University of Lapland (Finland) and Research fellow at PCRC, gave a presentation on "Pan-Arctic Collaboration: Toward a More Integrated Region?", and Mr. Tony Cabus, LL.D. candidate, GSICS, Kobe University, gave a presentation on "The Due Diligence Obligation of States in Environmental Law". For details, please see the seminar flyers: 11th seminar, 12th seminar.

The summary report on the PCRC 4th International Symposium is now available in both English and Japanese.

The PCRC 4th International Symposium was held at the Kobe University on 17 - 18 December 2018, and was successfully concluded.

The Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC) convened an international workshop to discuss the future of the Antarctic Treaty System on 19 December 2018. Further information and the summary report is now available.

The PCRC 4th International Symposium will be held at the Kobe University on 17 - 18 December 2018. The overall theme of the 4th symposium is "International Law for Sustainability in Arctic Resource Development:Integrating Economic, Social, Environmental and Scientific Dimensions".

Our symposium gain the attention of circumpolar business stakeholders. Please visit the AEC News for further informations.

At 11th Polar Law Symposium (PLS) being held in Tromso, Norway, PCRC Director Shibata officially announced that PCRC will be hosting 13th PLS in Fall of 2020 in Kobe, Japan. It is the first time PLS is being hosted in an Asian country. With Sakiko Hataya, Ph.D. student at Kobe, and Leilei Zou, PCRC fellow, Director Shibata visited Arctic Council Secretariat and Arctic Economic Council Secretariat in Tromso (photos).

Yusuke Honda assumed an assistant professorship at PCRC from October 1. PCRC will receive two fellows, Marzia Scopelliti and Romain Chuffart, from mid-October. Please see “Who Runs the Centre?” for their profiles.

On September 11, 2018 PCRC will convene the 10th international law seminar. At this seminar, Sakiko Hataya, a Ph.D. student at Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies at Kobe University, will give a presentation on "The Establishment of a Permanent Secretariat for the Arctic Council and Its Evolving Functions". For details, please see the seminar flyer.

PCRC will hold two special sessions of its international law seminar series in the late July. Professor Julia Jabour from University of Tasmania will deliver a presentation entitled “What does the future hold for long-peace in Antarctica?” at the 8th seminar on July 24. A panel discussion will be conducted on “The future of the Antarctic Treaty System” at the 9th seminar on July 27. For details, please see the 8th seminar flyer and the 9th seminar flyer.

PCRC is now offering to host JSPS fellows for the academic year 2019. Those interested to pursue Arctic and Antarctic legal studies at Kobe should express her/his interest as soon as possible. The details are indicted in this announcement .

The Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies (GSICS) of Kobe University is now recruiting the doctoral and master students who are to start off course in April or October 2019. Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC) at GSICS particularly welcomes those students who would like to pursue doctoral degree (Ph.D. in Laws) specializing in the Arctic legal issues, the Antarctic Treaty System, the law of the sea, and the international environmental law. English course is offered at GSICS and thesis can be submitted in English. Students are strongly recommended to apply for Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship for the degree pursuit at GSICS. The scholarship application will start soon and its deadline is between late May and early June 2018. For the details of the degree course and scholarship application, please refer to Invitation to Doctoral Courses at Kobe for 2019.

On April 24, 2018 PCRC will convene the 7th international law seminar. In this seminar, Mr Ian Trites, the deputy director of Circumpolar Affairs at Global Affairs Canada, will give a presentation on "Canadian Foreign Policy Relating to the Arctic". For details, please see the seminar flyer.

On February 9, 2018 PCRC 3rd symposium webpage is available to the public. Such information is accessible on the webpage as the symposium program, abstracts for all symposium sessions, and biographies of speakers and discussants. <http://www.research.kobe-u.ac.jp/gsics-pcrc/3rdsympo/20171207.html >

On February 13, 2018, PCRC will convene the 6th international law seminar of its International Law Seminar Series. In this seminar, invited Associate Professor Zou Leilei will make a presentation "Arctic Fishery Regime-building: Review and Prospect." For details, please see the flyer for the seminar.

PCRC will hold a special session of its international law seminar series on December 1, 2017. In this session, Professor Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen will deliver a presentation entitled “Thinking and Working Across Disciplines, Sectors and Borders on Global Challenges: Experiences from the Harvard Kennedy School, United Nations University, COP15 and COP21”. This seminar is open to the public and advanced registration is not required. For details, please see the flyer for the seminar.

The Centre is still accepting a few more registration for PCRC 3rd International Symposium "The Role of Non-Arctic States/Actors in the Arctic Legal Order-making" on December 7-9, 2017. Please register as soon as possible through the symposium website . For more information on the symposium, please see the flyer for the stmposium and the symposium website .

PCRC is please to announce the 3rd and 4th seminar of its international law seminar series. On November 21, Dr. Nikolas Sellheim will deliver a presentation "An Introduction to International Climate Change Law". On December 18, Ms. Marzia Scopelliti will give a presentation "The Participation of Non-State Actors in International Environmental Governance: Learning from Arctic IPs". For details, please see the flyer for these seminars.

On October 20, 2017 Professor Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen joined PCRC. He will stay in Kobe until mid-December 2017. For his profile, please see Who Runs the Centre.

On October 16, 2017 Ms. Marzia Scopelliti joined PCRC as research fellow. She will work for PCRC until mid-February 2018. For her profile, please see Who Runs the Centre.

PCRC is pleased to announce its international law seminar series to be held in October to December 2017. In the inaugural seminar on 27 October 2017, Associate Professor Maria das Neves will deliver a presentation entitled “The Legal Status of Svalbard’s Maritime Zones: Testing the Waters’ for a Future Dispute”. This seminar is open to the public and advanced registration is not required. Please also find the flyer for the seminar.The second seminar is planned on 7 November (Tue), the third on 21 November (Tue) and the Fourth on 18 December (Mon).

PCRC Senior Rsearch Fellow Nikolas Sellheim's new book "A Pocket Guide to Academic Publishing" has been out. For details, please see Related Rsearch Activities.

The PCRC 3rd International symposium is by invitation only. If you wish to attend the symposium, please make a registration as soon as possible at the symposium website . Please note that due to the limited seating availability, we may not accommodate all the requests.

A special website for the PCRC 3rd International Symposium is now open: <http://www.cscenter.co.jp/pcrc/ >

The Polar Cooperation Research Centre is proud to announce its third international symposium "The Role of Non-Arctic States/Actors in the Arctic Legal Order-making" to be held at Kobe University, Japan on December 7–9, 2017. This symposium will critically examine the positive contribution that the non-Arctic States/actors can bring to the Arctic legal order-making, as well as challenges faced by them.

Confirmed speakers (as of September 8) are:
Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen (UiT The Arctic University of Norway; JSPS Invited Fellow, Kobe University (October-December 2017))
Dalee Sambo Dorough (University of Alaska Anchorage, USA; UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues (2011-2016))
Naomi Harada (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC))
Sebastian Knecht (Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies, Germany)
Timo Koivurova (Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Finland)
Erik Molenaar (Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea, Utrecht University; K.G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea, UiT The Arctic University of Norway)
Joji Morishita (Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Japan)
Koji Sekimizu (Secretary- General Emeritus, IMO; Special Advisor and Professor, Kobe University, Japan
Won-Sang Seo (Korea Polar Research Institute, Republic of Korea)
Malgorzata Smieszek (Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Finland)
Florian Stammler (Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Finland)
Aki Tonami (Tsukuba University, Japan)
Jian Yang (Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, People’s Republic of China)

The sessions are (for details of each session, please see here ):
Session 1: Asian States/Actors in the Arctic Legal Order-making
Session 2: Arctic Shipping Governance
Session 3: Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries
Session 4: Policy-Relevant-Science in the Context of the Arctic
Session 5: Role of Observers in the Arctic Council
Session 6: Non-Arctic Influence on Arctic Customary Laws and Institutions

The PCRC welcomes papers from those who wish to attend the symposium as a discussant. The Centre may decide to provide financial support for international travel and accommodation to a few early career researchers from those who have submitted papers. We also welcome regular participants to the symposium with expertise on the issues to be discussed . For participation/discussant request, after reading Request for Participation/Call for Papers carefully, please fill out the application form and send it to <kobe_arctic_research2[at]diamond.kobe-u.ac.jp> no later than September 18, 2017.

On June 19, 2017, Leilei Zou, associate professor of Shanghai Ocean Universiy, joined the Polar Cooperation Research Centre. She will stay at the Centre as a JSPS post-doctoral fellow (standard) until June 2019. For her profile, see Who Runs the Centre.

On June 8-13, 2017, Directer Shibata and assistant professor Inagaki attended the ICASS IX held at Umeå, Sweden. At the conferecne, Inagaki made a presentation entitled "Legitimacy of the Arctic Council as a treaty-making forum." In this presentation, he examined the negotiation process of the Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation within the Scientific Cooperation Task Force of the Arctic Council.

Following Dr. Nikolas SELLHEIM, from mid June, Dr. Leilei ZOU, associate professor of Shanghai Ocean University, will join the PCRC as a JSPS post-doctoral research fellow (standard). From October, Ms. Marzia Scopelliti, Ph.D. candidate of Complutense University of Madrid, will start working for the Centre as a short-term research fellow.

In 2017, the PCRC plans to hold one international workshop in July and one international symposium in December. The workshop in July will examine the Arctic Council under US chairmanship and its prospects under Finnish chairmanship. The symposium in Decemeber will focus on the role of non-Arctic states in the Arctic legal order-making.

Furthermore, the memebers of the PCRC will attend important international conferences on circumpolar issues including ICASS IX (Umeå, Sweden in June), HASSEG Conference (Hobart, Australia in July) and 10th Polar Law Symposium (Rovaniemi, Finland in November).

A new article "An Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation: Only for the Eight Arctic States and Their Scientists?" co-authered by Director Shibata and Maiko Raita, a PhD candidate of GSICS Kobe University, has been published in Yearbook of the Polar Law Vol. 8 (2016) , pp. 129-162. Focusing on the Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation, the third legally binding agreement negotiated under the auspices of the Arctic Council, this article examines its possible effect on the non-Arctic states and their scientists. This paper was developed based on the presentation made by Kobe International Law Team in the Polar Law Symposium in 2015.

New PCRC working papers are now available! Please see PCRC Working Paper Series.

●Working Paper No.6 Alexander Sergunin “Russian Approaches to an Emerging Arctic Ocean Legal Order”
●Working Paper No.8: Ambassador Kazuko Shiraishi “Japan’s Arctic Policy and Its Challenges”
●Working Paper No.9: Betsy Baker “Large Marine Ecosystems and a Neighborhood Approach to Ecosystem-Based-Management in the Arctic”

On February 28, Dr. Nikolas Sellheim joined Polar Cooperation Research Centre! He will stay in Kobe as a JSPS post-doctoral fellow (short-term) until the end of February 2018. For his profile, please see Who runs the centre.

New PCRC working papers are now available! Please see PCRC Working Paper Series.

●Working Paper No.4: Kamrul Hossain "Indigenous Peoples and Norm Making in the Arctic Ocean Legal Order"
●Working Paper No.5: Viatcheslav V. Gavrilov "Future Legal Development in the Arctic: Prerequisites and Prospects"

Director Shibata is on mission to Antarctica from November 2016 to March 2017, accompanying the 58th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, executing his research project entitled “Antarctic Treaty System on the Ground: Interface between Science and Law”. Director Shibata will be onboard the icebreaker “Shirase” and visiting Syowa Station, Yukidori Valley ASPA, and other offsite geological and biological survey areas using CH-120 helicopters. During his absence, Acting Director Osamu Inagaki will be heading the PCRC.

On November 15 (Tue), 2016, PCRC will hold an international seminar, inviting Ms. Malgorzata Smieszek, researcher of the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Finland. For details, please see the flyer for the seminar.

On October 5-9,2016 Director Shibata and Sakiko Hataya, M1 student of GSICS attended 9th Polar Law Symposium and Arctic Circle 2016 Assembly held in Iceland. For details, please see related research activities .

On October 5-9,2016 Director Shibata, Research Fellow Lindsay Arthur Tamm and Sakiko Hataya, M1 student of GSICS will attend 9th Polar Law Symposium held in Akureyri and Reykjavik, Iceland. Lindsay and Sakiko will make a presentation as Kobe University team entitled "The Role of Law in Japan's Arctic Policy." Director Shibata and Sakiko will also attend the International Conference on the Arctic Council held at Univerisiy of Southern Denmark on October 11-12, 2016.

On August 21-27, 2016 Director Shibata, Research Fellow Lindsay Tamm and Sakiko Hataya, M1 student of international law program attended SCAR Open Science Conference (OSC) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For details, please see Related Research Activities.

The series of papers from PCRC's kick-off symposium "Emerging Arctic Legal Orders" have been published in Journal of International Cooperation Studies, vol.24 No.1 (July, 2016) in Japanese. These articles are available here .

PCRC's 2nd international symposium "The Future Design of Arctic Ocean Legal Order " has been successfully completed. The distinguished speakers and discussants including Japanese Arctic ambassador Kazuko Shiraishi with more than 30 participants discussed various legal issues concening future Arctic Ocean legal order-making. The summary of the symposium will be soon available at PCRC's events.

On July 13, 2016, the PCRC convened an international seminar by Professor Alexander Sergunin entitled "Arctic Cooperation: Challenges and Opportunities ." For details of the seminar, please see PCRC's events.

Announcement of the PCRC International Seminar. On July 13 (Wednesday), 2016 at 4 p.m. the PCRC will convene Professor Alexander Sergunin's seminar entitled "Arctic Cooperation: Challenges and Opportunities." This seminar will be conducted in English and is open to the public. For the details, please see the flyer for the seminar .

On July 6-8, 2016, Director Shibata will attend the 9th meeting of the Scientific Cooperation Task Force (SCTF) to be held in Ottawa, Canada as a Japanese delegation.

On July 1, 2016, Professor Tore Henriksen, Professor of UiT Arctic University Norway,  Professor Alexander Sergunin, Professor of St. Petersburg State University and Research Fellow Lindsay Arthur Tamm, University of Akureyri joined the Polar Cooperation Research Centre! For their profiles, see Who Runs the Centre.

The PCRC will convene its 2nd international symposium entitled "The Future Design of the Arctic Ocean Legal Order" on 28-29 July at Kobe University, Japan, inviting distinguished Arctic scholars and practitioners including Kazuko Shiraishi, Ambassador in Charge of Arctic affairs, MoFA Japan. The symposium will focus on the legal analysis of the future Arctic Ocean governance. For the details, please see the draft program (English, Japanese).

On June 2-3, 2016, Director Shibata attended Japan-Norway Arctic Science & Innovation Week 2016 held in Tokyo and made a keynote speech entitled “Legal Framework for Arctic Scientific Cooperation: Bilateralism,‘AC-ism’ or Universalism?” in the horizontal session on policy/legal issues (Photo left and middle). Director Shibata also had a meeting with Dr.Bjørn Haugstad, Deputy Minister, The Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research during the conference (Photo right).

On May 20, 2016, PCRC has invited Dr. Zia Madani , Assistant Professor of Iranian National Institute for Oceanology & Atmosphere Science, and held an international seminar entitled "The 34-Year-Old Law of the Sea Convention & Non-member States:Case Study of the Persian Gulf Region." In the presentation, Dr. Madani explained how the Islamic Republic of Iran, a non-party state to the UNCLOS, sees the provisions of the UNCLOS and how it domestically implements the law of the sea, especially forcusing on the passage issue of strait of Hormuz. After the presentation, the participants were actively engaged in discussions with Dr. Madani.

An announcement of the international seminar organized by PCRC. On May 20th, 2016, from 3:30 p.m., Dr. Zia Madani , Assistant Professor of Iranian National Institute for Oceanology & Atmosphere Science, will speak on the topic "The 34-Year-Old Law of the Sea Convention & Non-member States:Case Study of the Persian Gulf Region." This seminar will be conducted in English. For the details, please see the flyer for the seminar.  

On June 2-3, 2016, Director Shibata will attend Japan-Norway Arctic Science & Innovation Week 2016 and will make a keynote speech provisionally entitled “Legal Framework for Arctic Scientific Cooperation: Bilateralism,‘AC-ism’ or Universalism?” in the horizontal session on policy/legal issues .

On March 30-31, research fellow Inagaki attentded the roundtable on the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO) issues hosted by Korean Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) in which participants discussed various issues concerning future fisheries in the CAO including how to co-ordinate scientific research on the ecosystems and living resources in the Ocean area. In the roundtable, research fellow Inagaki made a presentation entitled "Non-Arctic Coastal States' Participation in the Emerging Fisheries Regime in the CAO: An International Law Perspective".

On March 3-4, 2016, Director Shibata attended the 8th meeting of the Scientific Cooperation Task Force (SCTF) of the Arctic Council held in Washington DC, USA (photo left). On March 9-19, 2016, Director Shibata and Research Fellow Inagaki participated in the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2016 including the Model Arctic Council (MAC) in Fairbanks, Alaska USA (photo middle: Director Shibata with graduate students of Akureyri University, Iceland). Director Shibata also attended the meeting of the IASC Social Human Working Group held during the ASSW (photo right).

The Centre’s kick-off symposium is successfully concluded. Ambassador Halinen (Finland), Professor VanderZwaag (Canada), Professor Johnstone (Iceland), Professor Nishimoto (Tohoku University), Professor Hirawake (Hokkaido University), and Director Shibata (PCRC), with more than 25 participants from all over Japan, discussed the current and future legal and policy issues facing the Arctic Council, Arctic environment, Arctic ocean, Arctic science, and Arctic shipping. Symposium’s dedicated homepage is now available, with useful links to relevant Arctic law material. The papers from the symposium in their original English version will soon be available as PCRC Working Paper Series and their Japanese translated versions in GSICS’s Journal of International Cooperation Studies (日本語、English).

The updated program of the Centre’s kick-off symposium: “Emerging Arctic Legal Orders in Science, Environment, and the Ocean” is now available. On 9 December, the Centre has sent to all registered participants via e-mail relevant information. There are a few seats still available, and the Centre welcomes commentators at panel discussions. Please send your request to the Centre ASAP.

Director Shibata’s article: “Japan and100 Years of Antarctic Legal Order: Any Lessons for the Arctic?” is now published in Volume 7 of Yearbook of Polar Law (2015), pp.3-54. This paper sets the fundamental themes and approach of Centre’s research into the Arctic Legal Order-making. For those interested in reading this article, please contact the Centre.

Contents: 1. Introduction 2. The Principle of Territoriality 2.1 Historical Developments 2.2 Extended Continental Shelf Claims 2.3 Whaling in the Antarctic 2.4 Antarctic Territoriality 2.5 Arctic Territoriality - The Case of Svalbard 3. The Foundational Principles of Process Legitimacy 3.1 International Public Values as Driving Force for Cooperation 3.2 Science-Based Approach 3.3 Consensus among the Interested Parties 4. Flexibilities in Regime Operation 4.1 Norm-Development 4.2 Institution-Building 4.3 interrelationship with Outer-Worlds 5. Conclusion

PCRC will convene, on 18-19 December, Centre’s kick-off international symposium entitled , with main speakers from Finland, Canada, Iceland, and Japan. See the

PCRC has become a partner organization of Arctic Law Thematic Network under the University of Arctic. This is a result of Director Shibata’s visit to the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland in October 2015. Photo: after a seminar with Centre’s Director, Prof. Koivurova (2nd from left) and his Arctic law team.

Director Shibata attended the 3rd Arctic Circle Assembly  in Reykjavik, Iceland, and visited and discussed possible research collaboration at Polar Law Institute, University of Akureyri , Iceland and Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea, the Arctic University of Norway in October 2015.

Director Shibata visited the Secretariat of the Arctic Council (AC) in Tromsø, Norway, and requested information sharing on AC activities. Photo: with Director of the AC Secretariat, Mr. Magnus Johannesson.

Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC) is established to implement the Japanese government funded Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (ArCS) project.
Professor Akiho Shibata , as its Director, leads the Centre’s research activities, with Osamu Inagaki as research fellow.