ABSTRACT
Climate change continues to alter the landscape of the polar regions, attracting the interest of States and non-State actors. This makes the evaluation of maritime security in the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean more relevant than ever. Given the evolving meaning of the concept of maritime security, this chapter discusses its meaning in relation to the North Pole and South Pole. It is explained that traditional maritime security no longer constitutes a threat to the polar regions as States have found constructive ways to cooperate and rely on hard and soft law initiatives to govern the polar oceans. In contrast, it is argued that it is the increasing presence of non-State actors that can adversely affect maritime security in the polar regions. The existing governance frameworks can, to an extent, enable States to tackle the emerging threats posed by non-State actors. Achieving maritime security, however, requires effective law enforcement and a better understanding of the polar oceans through maritime domain awareness (MDA) policies, which might raise significant sovereignty issues in the polar regions. It is thus suggested that States revisit their interests in the light of the increasing threats in order to achieve maritime security in the polar oceans.
