The UN and the Arctic Council: Interrogating the Dynamics of Global and Regional Governance in the Arctic Ocean

The continuing growth of global governance through the expansion of the UN normative framework (e.g., the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and in particular Goal 14, the current discussions on a convention on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) occurs concomitantly with the development of regional governance in the Arctic Ocean through the Arctic Council and the Arctic Five. Through a policy (strategy)-centred approach, or environment policy approach, several studies have already established that regionalisation by the Arctic Council has re-territorialised rather than de-territorialised the Arctic. But the role of global governance has not been addressed as such, in particular the UN whose normative contribution to the regional order considerably exceeds the UNCLOS framework. This paper aims to critically assess the strategies of Arctic states and the Arctic Council in manoeuvring with the global governance regime. Focusing on the issue of sustainable development, the paper analyses whether spatialisation dynamics at stake in the global and regional governances are complementary, competing or conflicting. It is argued that if the UN is a major actor with relevance for the Arctic Ocean, however current regionalization does not build on that achievement to enhance governance of sustainable development: regionalisation rather serves to favour, through the construction of a legitimate and exclusive space of regional governance, to accommodate and support state sovereignty (‘nationalization’) and tends to scale back cooperation to operational coordination of response plans in the Arctic Ocean.