Introduction

As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues its pandemic outspread, an increased academic interest and number of research on the relations between climate change and the infectious diseases is observed. Despite of no evidence that climate change directly triggered the outbreak of COVID-19, it is reported on an increased occurrence of virus carriers that came from climate change and the consequent devastation of wildlife habitats, in addition to on the higher chances of transmission of virus from wild animals to human.¹ The Polar Regions are where global warming and climate change is taking place much faster than any other regions on the planet. Ice in the Arctic and Antarctic has been melting out in an alarming rate, so that some experts expressed their concerns on the reappearance of the virus in the thawing ice and permafrost, describing it as to open a ‘Pandora’s box’. Scientists already discovered the new 28 viruses from icebergs of Tibetan Plateau and revived a giant virus of 30,000 years ago from the Siberian permafrost. In 2016 thousands of reindeers in Siberia were found dead from anthrax bacteria outbreak in 75 years.²

The abovementioned cases of natural disaster will once again remind us of the urgent need of conservation of the Polar Regions and the importance of international efforts and cooperation. The articles of this special issue that focus on the protection of the Arctic and Antarctic environments and the international governance and treaty systems that support these efforts, therefore, can be considered timely and meaningful.

It has already been more than a half century and a decade after signing the Antarctic Treaty. The pieces published in the special issue render reviewing the last 60 years and prospecting the next 60 years to come to the Antarctica. The cultural heritage sites of the last 100 years of the Antarctic reflect international relations of the Southernmost Continent, and by structurally analysing the connection between the two one can figure out the dynamics of historic, contemporary, cultural and diplomatic agenda on the Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), which significantly contributed to peace in the Antarctic for the last 60 years, has presented a very good example of international governance that overcomes legal barriers of disputes over Antarctic sovereignty. At the same time, however, it remains as an outstanding issue for the ATS continuing to further develop trust, cooperation, interdependence, and shared value amongst its members. In addition, the ATS, which covers various issues related to climate change, biodiversity, natural resources and geopolitics in an integrated way, needs to better harmonise science and policy with the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM), the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP), the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), so as to bring a long-term scenario in the Antarctic continent and Southern Ocean and better prepare for the future.

Once solid-frozen sea ice in the Arctic is under rapid thawing, making inter-relations amongst the Arctic states closer. Nevertheless they commonly approach integrative or harmonious perspective, the pieces in this special issue take different foci and cases. Kaitlin Young argues, for example, that diverse stake holders, such as government (policy makers), scientists, and the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) should participate in the decision making process, in the crossroad of development or protection of the Greenland. Maria Morgunova points out that even Norway and Russian Federation, with the same border line that the two Arctic countries share, differ in policies of oil and natural resources development and green space creation. Likewise, policies of the states within the Arctic circle are seen as different due to various factors including energy demand, oil price, climate change, and geopolitics. Hilde-Gunn Bye successfully reveals that along with the Europe’s High North policies, security interests from the Arctic players including the United States, Norway, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Russia became stronger. Priya Vijakumar Poojary demonstrated, on the other hand, the European Union (EU), with its Arctic member states of Sweden, Denmark and Finland, pursues an independent Arctic Council observer status and maintains to communicate and cooperate with the Arctic countries, representing its members. Barry Scott Zellen shows that there is also a compelling view that for the sake of rights of the Arctic Indigenous peoples and protection of Arctic Indigenous cultural tradition, less international competition but co-management and cooperative governance is requested. All the perspectives suggest in common, as we see, the philosophical direction towards integration from diversity of the Arctic by covering the relationship between nature and human, indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, individual and nation, a state and another, and states and international organisations.

It has been an enormous pleasure for the guest editors assisting to share great ideas and insights horizontally from selected experts to others in the field of Polar affairs with this special issue of Polar Journal. At the same time, by bringing this special issue we also meant to communicate with and reach out vertically to the next generations and support them. Rashdah Abdul Rahim advises, in this context, nurturing future generations by sharing relevant polar science infrastructure and the costs, as well as preparing for an environment where legal and institutional issues in the Polar regions are resolved together, will be the best practice of science diplomacy or ‘knowledge diplomacy’. We believe that connecting, informing, and inspiring the experts and stakeholders in the Arctic and Antarctic of both today and tomorrow will keep us in the path to better understand the Polar Regions and rapid changes happening there. Such a spirit of global cooperation and trust, as we also reckon, will be one of the best rewarding approaches to overcome the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.³

Notes

1. Justin Worland, “The Wuhan Coronavirus, Climate Change, and Future Epidemics,” Time (online, posted on 6 February 2020), https://time.com/5779156/wuhan-coronavirus-climate-change/.

2. Jasmin Fox-Skelly, “There are diseases hidden in ice, and they are waking up,” BBC Earth (online, posted on 4 May 2017), http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170504-there-are-diseases-hidden-in-ice-and-they-are-waking-up.

3. Yuval Harari, “Yuval Noah Harari: the world after coronavirus,” The Financial Times (online, posted on 20 March 2020), https://www.ft.com/content/19d90308-6858-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcca75.