Looking North: Northern England and the National Imagination (Studies in Popular Culture)

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Increasing volumes of marine traffic create additional risks of environmental damage from maritime accidents and increased marine litter. Russia assesses that melting sea ice will provide it with considerable economic and development opportunities but will further expose its northern flank, increasing naval activity and volumes of maritime traffic in the region, including along the Northern Sea Route (NSR). For the Arctic, this means that we will work internationally to advance prosperity and security in the region, and to understand and find solutions to global challenges like climate change.

We recognise the potential implementation risks that could be involved in delivering the Belt and Road Initiative. La genèse de « Looking North » débute en 2018-19 alors qu’Adi Shankara se rend régulièrement à Dublin. This document brings together all the UK’s policies and strategies relating to the Arctic under a single, integrated framework, in line with the Integrated Review. The UK’s geographical position means we stand to benefit significantly from the opening-up of these new maritime trade routes.

The UK has been a State Observer to the Arctic Council since its first meeting, and our status was most recently reaffirmed at the 12th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council in Reykjavik in May 2021. While the future of multilateral cooperation in the region may remain uncertain, the UK will seek to strengthen our bilateral relationships with our Arctic partners and Allies to continue to make a positive contribution as the region’s nearest neighbour. The Finnish Parliament adopted a new Climate Change Act in May 2022, enshrining in law the goals for the country to be carbon neutral by 2035. UNCLOS provides the legal framework for the exercise of the rights and responsibilities of coastal states, including in the Arctic, and for regulating the various uses of Arctic waters.

The UK also welcomed their decision in June 2022 to implement a limited resumption in their work in the Arctic Council, in projects that do not involve the participation of the Russian Federation. The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) provides a common framework to drive ocean action through international collaboration on transformative ocean science.The Head of the NERC Arctic Office is the current chair of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), and the UK plays a full role within IASC’s decision-making and thematic science working groups and special action groups. One way in which we do this is through formal annual consultations underpinned by international agreements, such as our fisheries framework agreements with Norway and the Faroe Islands, and memoranda of understanding with Greenland and Iceland. The falling cost of renewable energy, fossil fuel diversification, increased industry and financial competition and high demand for green finance products are all driving growth.