Springer Legal Repercussions of Climate Change in the Arctic: Hydrocarbon Expropriation, New Shipping Routes and the Role of Insurance for Sustainable Development

Climate change is not a distant environmental concern but an immediate legal, economic, and governance challenge. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Arctic, where rapid warming is reshaping ecosystems, opening new shipping routes, expanding access to natural resources, and creating unprecedented legal and financial risks. This book examines how accelerating climate change is transforming the legal landscape of the Arctic, exposing the limits of existing international environmental, maritime, energy, and liability frameworks. It explores how climate-driven uncertainty challenges traditional approaches to regulation and risk management, calling for more integrated and adaptive governance. Bringing together environmental law, climate governance, maritime law, energy regulation, and insurance, the book offers an interdisciplinary analysis of the Arctic as a testing ground for climate-resilient legal systems. It examines issues ranging from shipping and offshore resource development to environmental liability, risk allocation, and regulatory reform. A central contribution of the book is its analysis of insurance as more than a mechanism for compensation. It demonstrates how insurance can influence behaviour, price environmental risk, strengthen resilience, and support climate governance in vulnerable regions. The book also addresses the ethical and geopolitical dimensions of Arctic transformation, including Indigenous communities, intergenerational justice, and the balance between economic development and environmental protection. The book positions Arctic as a laboratory for future climate governance, hence, providing legal and other insights for scholars, policymakers, legal practitioners, and industry professionals seeking effective responses to the challenges of a rapidly changing world.