Arctic Initiative Study Group: Ocean Conservation and Policy Innovation

Arctic Initiative Study Group:

Ocean Conservation and Policy Innovation

As climate change rapidly transforms the Arctic, the ocean at its center becomes a focal point: melting sea ice enables increased marine traffic; ice-dependent species are migrating or dying; fisheries shift and with them so do economies of subsistence. These changes can mean risk or opportunity for different stakeholders. This study group, co-organized by Dr. Sarah Dewey, Dr. Sarah Mackie, and Brittany Janis, used Arctic Ocean change as a case study to outline the environmental policy process. The five-seminar series covered the topics of: • Intro to the changing Arctic Ocean: Mapping stakeholders in a changing landscape. • Science creation and communication: Understanding how scientists measure change and how their analyses can inform policy. • Regional policy development: Understanding the process of co-developing policy through the lens of plastics pollution in the Arctic. • Diplomacy: Understanding the precautionary principle, and what it took to achieve groundbreaking conservation policy in the Central Arctic Ocean. • Policy implementation: Examining the successes and challenges in implementing Arctic marine mammal protections.