ABSTRACT
Three major events can be identified which have been important for the development
o f EIA norms in the Arctic. First, the Cold War was evidently a major factor
inhibiting the development o f EIA norms in the region. Before the end of the Cold
War, there was only one inter-governmental cooperation process which produced any significant impact on EIA norms in the Arctic: the cooperation between the Nordic states. Many international environmental protection treaties were concluded as part of this cooperation, in particular the Nordic Environment Protection Convention in
1974. This Convention, evidently ahead of its time, provided a good framework for
managing potential transboundary pollution between the four Nordic states. Although
the EC Directive o f 1985 also provided a sound basis for managing potential
transboundary pollution between states as well as for strict harmonization o f the
national EIA procedures of the member states, Denmark was the only Arctic state
that was a member o f the EC. At the time, for the most part the EIA norms that
existed before the end o f the Cold War were bilateral initiatives concentrating on
potential transboundary pollution from a certain set o f human activities or from
certain harmful substances, or specifying certain environmental media, such as the
agreements covering Arctic transboundary watercourses.
