Beyond Hans Island: The Canada–Denmark agreement's possible impact on mobility and continental shelves
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00207020231175760 |
| Author | Mathieu Landriault,Pauline Pic,Frédéric Lasserre |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Policy Brief |
Beyond Hans Island:
The Canada–Denmark
agreement’s possible impact
on mobility and continental
shelves
Mathieu Landriault
École nationale d’administration publique, Québec City,
Québec, Canada
Pauline Pic
École supérieure d’études internationales, Université Laval,
Québec City, Québec, Canada
Frédéric Lasserre
Département de géographie, Université Laval, Québec City,
Québec, Canada
Abstract
The governments of Canada and Denmark signed a historic agreement on Hans Island
on 14 June 2022. Although most of the agreement was devoted to the resolution of
the Hans Island dispute, it also settled other issues. We argue that provisions on
mobility and the continental shelf in the Labrador Sea give rise to interesting prece-
dents that could have far-reaching effects for northerners. The agreement on
enhanced mobility could represent a first step in a more ambitious process of facili-
tating Inuit mobility across Nunavut and Greenland, while the settlement on the con-
tinental shelf illustrates how states could collaborate on other continental shelf cases,
including the continental shelf in the Central Arctic Ocean.
Corresponding author:
Mathieu Landriault, École nationale d’administration publique, 555 Charest boulevard East, Quebec City,
Québec, G1K 9E5, Canada.
Email: mathieu.landriault@enap.ca
Policy Brief
International Journal
2023, Vol. 78(1-2) 243–253
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00207020231175760
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijx
To continue reading
Request your trial