Antarctica Day. International Polar Conference ”Governance in the Cold: Science and Geopolitics in Arctic and Antarctic Decision-Making“. November 27, 2026, Estonian Academy of Sciences, Kohtu 6, Tallinn.
The conference will be livestreamed on this website. The link will be added on the morning of the conference.
The Antarctic Treaty, signed on December 1, 1959, established a framework for the peaceful use of Antarctica and continued international scientific cooperation, in the interest of all mankind. This date is now celebrated internationally as Antarctica Day. In Estonia, it also marks the founding of the Estonian Polar Club in 1984.
To honour the values of the Antarctic Treaty, promote Estonian scientific and political presence in the polar regions, as well as the public understanding of the Arctic and Antarctic, the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Estonian Ministry of Climate and Estonian Polar Club are organising the International Polar Conference “Governance in the Cold: Science and Geopolitics in Arctic and Antarctic Decision-Making”.
The panel Quo Vadis Arctic? Perspectives from the EU and Member States based on the Updated EU Arctic Strategy will discuss the updated EU Arctic Strategy. Featuring eminent speakers, including EU’s special envoy for the Arctic, Claude Véron-Réville, the panel brings together perspectives from Brussels as well as from EU Member States, examining the policy’s implications in the current geopolitical context.
The Antarctic section of the day will explore how the newest scientific knowledge becomes policy in Antarctic governance and how NGOs and scientists can impact Antarctic decision-making in the context of past and present geopolitical challenges. We will be joined, among others, by Jim Barnes, the long-term champion of the Antarctic environment and the founder of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, as well as the leading figure in polar geopolitics, Prof Klaus Dodds.
We warmly invite you to join us for this important discussion on the future of Arctic and Antarctic governance.
For in-person participation at the Academy, please sign up here.
PROGRAMME
| 9:30 | Registration, coffee |
| 10:00 | Opening Remarks by Gert Siniloo, DG, Dept of Connectivity and Climate Diplomacy |
| 10:10 | Panel 1: Quo Vadis Arctic? Perspectives from the EU and Member States based on the Updated EU Arctic Strategy |
| Moderator: TBC Panelists: Claude Véron-Réville, EU Ambassador at Large - Special Envoy for Arctic Piotr Rychlik, Ambassador for the Arctic and Antarctic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Poland Claire Buckley, Ambassador to Norway and Iceland, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ireland Urmas Paet, Member of the European Parliament, rapporteur for the Arctic region Toomas Lukk, Special Envoy for the Arctic, Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs | |
| 11:30 | Coffee Break |
| 11:45 | Keynote Discussion: “Civil society, science and Antarctic decision-making” Dr. James Barnes, the founder and the long-term executive director of the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), will have a conversation with Associate Prof. Kati Lindström, the Vice-Chair of the Polar Research Committee of the Estonian Academy of Sciences |
| 13:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 | Greetings from the Antarctic from Dr. Priit Tisler, Antarctic Operations, Finnish Antarctic Research Program FINNARP |
| 14:10 | Panel 2: The Future of “Best Available Science" in Antarctic Decision-making |
| Moderator: Jolanda Lipu, University of Akureyri Iceland/ Miltton New Nordics Panelists: Dr. Veronica Willmott Puig, Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany Prof. Klaus Dodds, Middlesex University, UK Associate Prof. Kati Lindström, Polar Research Committee of the Estonian Academy of Sciences | |
| 15:40 | Closing Remarks |
| 16:00–17:00 | Reception |
Press contacts
Estonian Academy of Sciences: krista.tamm@akadeemia.ee
Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: press@mfa.ee