Research Professor Timo Koivurova from the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law of the Arctic Centre will be one of the keynote speakers at the Arctic Summit organized by renowned British magazine The Economist on Thursday 12th of March in Oslo.

The basis of this year’s Arctic Summit is to estimate realistically, what is and isn’t going on in the Arctic Region. The public expectations have been downsizing. For example many projects concerning oil have been put aside due to falling price of oil, and the Northeast Passage has been used much less than estimated.

According to Koivurova this is only a good thing:

- We have been trying to bring out viewpoints based on research in almost every possible situation, but often the media have not been interested.

In his own address Koivurova will analyze, if in the region there is going on a resource contest, new cold war or a development based on regulations. One of the crucial factors producing fears is, that Denmark and Russia both have continental shelf claims to the Lomonosov Ridge at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.

- Despite how things are, it looks very probable that the states will behave according the requirements of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. When Denmark left its “evidence” of the outreach of its continental shelf, it also told, that the claim probably is overlapping with the Russian claim. In the Danish application was also included a Danish-Russian accord, in which the countries stated they will settle their continental shelf border later bilaterally.

According to Koivurova, at least this far the co-operation between Russia and the Western countries has been possible in the Arctic Region and especially in the Arctic Council, though the relations in general have become quite cold.

The website of the Economist Arctic Summit:
http://www.economistinsights.com/sustainability-resources/event/arctic-summit-2015

The Summit can be followed live at the address: www.arcticsummitlive.com

Further information:
Research Professor Timo Koivurova
+358 5519522
Timo.koivurova@ulapland.fi