The Barents environmental cooperation : a legitimacy analysis

Abstract

The research conducted in this thesis aims at elaborating the legitimacy of the environmental cooperation of the double-layered cooperative forum Barents Euro-Arctic Region (BEAR). The BEAR was incepted in 1993 based on an initiative of theNorwegian then-Foreign Minister Thorvald Stoltenberg, creating the legally nonbinding Kirkenes Declaration between high-level governmental representatives of the Barents states, i.e. Norway, Russia, Finland and Sweden, as well as Iceland, Denmark and the European Commission, ultimately resulting in the BEAR. The study approaches the concept of legitimacy from a multidimensional perspective in order to create a better understanding of the concept of ‘legitimacy’ while at the same time applying and analyzing this concept for the environmental dimension within the framework of the complex governance body Barents Euro-Arctic Region.