Climate Change and the Regime for the Conservation of Polar Bears

Abstract

In 1973 the polar bear range states agreed to conserve polar bears and the ecosystem of which polar bears are a part. Commentators generally regard that Agreement as a success. The Agreement protected polar bears principally by prohibiting the unsustainable harvest of bears. The bear has also been protected by its listing on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). However, it is now apparent that the principal threat to the polar bear is climate change rather than hunting or international trade in bears and bear products. This chapter offers a critical analysis of the capacity of these two instruments to protect the bear and the ecosystem of which it forms a part from the effects of climate change. The paper deals with both the duty to mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases and the opportunity to engage in adaptive measures. The chapter suggests that while there is evidence that the ACPB is adopting institutional measures to respond to the threats posed by climate change the CITES agreement and its institutions are largely unresponsive to the problems that climate change will pose to species of concern, vulnerable species or endangered species.