Black carbon and the Arctic: Global problem‐solving through the nexus of science, law and space

• Published date: 01 April 2018
• Author: Sabaa Ahmad Khan,Kati Kulovesi
• Date: 01 April 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12245

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Black carbon and the Arctic: Global problem-solving through

the nexus of science, law and space

Sabaa Ahmad Khan

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Kati Kulovesi

Correspondence

Email: sabaa.ahmadkhan@uef.fi Abstract

Black carbon pollution is an important driver of climate change in the Arctic region.

Most black carbon emissions entering the Arctic originate from non-Arctic sources,

and hence mitigating black carbon pollution in the Arctic region requires not only

regional, but global engagement. Attempts to regulate borderless climate pollutants

such as black carbon force us to think about law’s effectiveness from the perspec-

tive of its relationship to science as well as its engagement with space. This article

argues that for effective legal problem-solving, black carbon pollution must be

addressed from the point of view of science, law and space. Scientific, social and

spatial landscapes reveal different legal narratives embedded in climate governance

that have traditionally fallen outside the State-led discourse of environmental legal

negotiation and yet are central to developing a meaningful understanding of global

climate ‘law’, realities and outcomes.

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INTRODUCTION

Black carbon resulting from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels

and biomass is an important driver for climate change in the Arctic

region. It also contributes to local air pollution and causes adverse

health impacts. In this sense, black carbon mitigation offers an inter-

esting opportunity to merge the global climate change agenda with

the local environmental and health agendas. Like many other envir-

onmental and health problems, black carbon pollution affecting the

Arctic region does not respect jurisdictional limitations. Indeed, most

black carbon emissions impacting the Arctic actually originate from

outside the region, with the Arctic States themselves responsible for

approximately ‘a third of black carbon’s warming effects in the Arc-

tic’.

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Sources located in East and Southeast Asia account for an esti-

mated 40 percent of Arctic black carbon.

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Attempts to regulate borderless climate pollutants such as black

carbon force us to think about law’s effectiveness from the perspec-

tive of its relationship to science as well as its engagement with

space. Due to the inherently transboundary and cross-regionally dis-

persive nature of black carbon emissions affecting the Arctic, along

with the fundamental role of the Arctic ecosystem in shaping

ecosystems and health at the planetary scale, concerted mitigation

efforts are needed across all borders. In recognition of this reality,

countries participating in the Arctic Council have agreed to a volun-

tary regional goal for reductions in black carbon emissions. However,

the best local benefits could be achieved through strengthened glo-

bal action. For several years now, the Inuit Circumpolar Council

(ICC),

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an international nongovernmental organization (NGO) repre-

senting an estimated 160,000 Inuit across Alaska, Canada, Greenland

(Denmark) and Russia, has been urging parties to the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to acknow-

ledge the climate-forcing role of black carbon and to develop meas-

ures to mitigate black carbon emissions entering the Arctic.

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Arctic Marine Assessment Programme (AMAP), Summary for Policy-Makers: Arctic Climate

Issues 2015 –Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (2015) 9. Overall, Arctic states account for 10

percent of global anthropogenic emissions of black carbon (ibid 7).

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ibid 7.

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The ICC holds Consultative Status II at the United Nations and is a Permanent Participant

of the Arctic Council.

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ICC, ‘UNFCCC COP 21 Position Paper’<http://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/uploads/3/0/5/

4/30542564/icc_position_unfccc_cop_21_final.pdf>; ICC, ‘Inuit Call on Global Leaders at

UNFCCC COP 18 in Doha, Qatar: Making the Most of the 2013–2015 Review and the Sec-

ond Commitment Period under the Kyoto Protocol’(5 December 2012) <http://iccalaska.

org/wp-icc/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ICC-Statement_UNFCCC-COP18.pdf>.

DOI: 10.1111/reel.12245

RECIEL. 2018;27:5–14. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/reel

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