![]() ![]() ![]() In all, Russia’s extended continental shelf as proposed would encompass 70 percent of the Arctic Ocean beyond the coastal states’ EEZs. The March 2021 submissions, addenda to the 2015 revised submission, represent a further enlargement of the continental shelf by some 705,000 square kilometers. It encompassed 1,191,347 square kilometers in the Arctic Ocean that is, approximately 100,000 square kilometers more than the country’s 2001 submission. The new proposal covered the seabed from the 200-nautical-mile limit of Russia’s EEZ to a point somewhat beyond the North Pole. Fourteen years later, in 2015, Russia lodged the submission requested, partially revised in terms of Article 8 of Annex II to the Convention. However, finding the scientific evidence insufficient, the CLCS returned the submission and requested a revised one with more data. In the submission, which was accompanied by the presentation of relevant scientific data, Russia designated an extensive area-one almost half the size of the Arctic Ocean-as falling within the outer limits of its continental shelf. In 2001, Russia lodged a submission with the CLCS delineating outer limits for its continental shelf extending into the Arctic Ocean. Russia’s Submissions to the CLCS and the Recent Addenda Against this background, the following short article evaluates the status and consequences of the submissions in the light of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Media reports have even occasionally questioned the lawfulness of its action, albeit without presenting any legal justifications. Like those before it, the submissions have sparked media and policy debates concerning Russia’s political ambitions and security infrastructure in the Arctic Ocean region. The proposal, comprising the country’s second revised submission to the Commission, delineated an area extending to points near the North Pole and the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of Greenland and Canada. On 31 March 2021, Russia lodged two submissions with the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) proposing an extension of its continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean. Prof Kamrul Hossain evaluates the status and consequences of the submissions in the light of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Russia’s Proposed Extended Continental Shelf in the Arctic Ocean: Science Setting the Stage for Law ![]()
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