Only then will the exact outer limits of each state’s continental shelf be clear. Because the submissions of Russia, Denmark, and Russia converge and overlap near the North Pole (see Figure 2), they will have to find compromise through (lengthy) boundary negotiations. Given the long queue of applications from around the world, this could likely take a decade or more. First, the five Arctic coastal states must wait for the CLCS to issue recommendations on the pending submissions. Still, the process of delineating the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean is far from over. The United States, being a non-party to UNCLOS, although treating most of Article 76 as customary international law, has not applied to the Commission. ![]() Denmark/Greenland and Canada submitted applications with regard to the Arctic Ocean in 2013-20 respectively – these submissions are yet to be considered by CLCS. Among the other states with access to the Arctic Ocean, Norway applied in 2006 and became the first Arctic country to receive favorable recommendations in 2009. In 2021, Russia submitted two Addenda to the 2015 submission (see Figure 1 for the evolution of Russia’s submissions). Russia filed its initial bid in 2001 - the first nation-applicant in the CLCS’ history – but the Commission recommended that Russia revise the submission, which it did in 2015 after years of extensive field research and additional data collection. There is a chance that the final recommendations will be issued during the upcoming CLCS plenary session in March 2023, thus putting an end to the Russian endeavor that has lasted more than twenty years. Russia, determined to solve this issue quickly, filed a revised submission on February 14, accepting the Commission’s conclusions. The new recommendations are mostly favorable to Russia: the CLCS agreed with Russia’s arguments that the Mendeleev-Alpha Rise, the Podvodnikov Basin, and the Lomonosov Ridge are natural extensions of its continental shelf, and recommended using the points proposed in Russia’s submission to establish the outer limits of the continental shelf in these submarine areas. However, the Commission rejected evidence submitted by Russia as insufficient to prove the continental nature of the Gakkel Ridge, and therefore advised Russia to make a partial revised submission in respect of its continental shelf in the southern part of Amundsen Basin ( see Para 73 and 120 of Russia's submission). This development sends an important positive signal in times of unprecedented political disturbance in the Arctic region. ![]() Russia subsequently accepted the Commission’s recommendations, bringing its two-decade bid to extend its continental shelf close to an end. On February 6, 2023, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) issued recommendations with regard to the Russian submission in respect of the Arctic Ocean.
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