Links between the Arctic and the Earth’s climate system generate several paradoxes. Despite the low level of anthropogenic emissions of GHGs from the Arctic, it plays a critical role in the dynamics of the Earth’s climate system. The principal drivers of climate change are non-Arctic, but climate change impacts show up sooner and more dramatically in the Arctic, making it ground zero in efforts to address the challenge of climate adaptation. Ironically, these changes have also increased the accessibility of the massive reserves of hydrocarbons located in the circumpolar north. The Arctic Council has sought to address these concerns by monitoring the course of climate change in the Arctic and bringing together representatives of major GHG emitters to consider options for addressing climate change, but the council is limited in terms of authority and resources; Russia’s war in Ukraine has disrupted its activities. The paradoxical links arising in this case are characteristic of complex systems more generally and highlight the importance of developing the ability to respond agilely when needs and opportunities to deal effectively with rapidly changing conditions arise.

Issues of governance arising in areas beyond national jurisdiction are rising rapidly as priority concerns. In thinking about institutional architectures for these areas, it is helpful to subdivide this class of issues into three subcategories dealing with: (i) international spaces or areas easy to locate in spatial terms; (ii) earth systems that play critical roles in determining the habitability of the planet; and (iii) virtual systems that are increasingly important but difficult to locate in spatial terms. Focusing on one prominent example exemplifying each of these subcategories – the high seas, the earth’s climate system and cyberspace – this chapter seeks to identify lessons of general interest regarding the governance of areas beyond national jurisdiction. It directs attention to the importance of process in contrast to substance, the role of discursive embeddedness, and the importance of balancing stability and agility in a world featuring increasingly complex systems.