The Arctic and Antarctica: differing currents of change: Peter Kennedy reports on a recent NZIIA symposium.

• Jurisdiction: New Zealand
• Date: 01 May 2015
• Author: Kennedy, Peter

'The Arctic and Antarctica: Differing Currents of Change' symposium held on 27 February in Wellington was intended to expose the range of issues related to the northern and southern polar regions, the threats and the challenges, and what the future may hold for these unique environments. After being welcomed by Victoria University of Wellington Vice Chancellor Professor Grant Guilford and MFAT Deputy Secretary Gerard van Bohemen, panel members in the first session tackled the topic of commercialisation versus conservation within differing legal environments. Professor Donald Rothwell, ANU, opened this session, chaired by Peter Kennedy, by looking at how the Law of the Sea Convention interacts--or not--with the distinctive legal regimes of the polar regions. This threw up a number of challenging issues in the Antarctic region, such as whether or not Australia's whale sanctuary is consistent with the Antarctic Treaty. By contrast in the Arctic, without such a specific treaty, there are very direct jurisdictional and maritime issues between sovereign states. Choke points in the Arctic are potentially getting more problematic...