Arctic environmental parameters form the basis for the design and operation of ships and offshore platforms, and as the understanding of climate change evolves this knowledge needs to be reflected in the processes and methods that developing the environmental design basis. This paper provides a review of the applicable Rules and Regulations for Arctic regions with focus on the environmental parameters impacted by climate change, such as air temperature, ice properties, wind, snow, and wave states, etc. Scenarios of parameter variations are presented and the applicability of probabilistic models for trend analysis and extreme events are discussed. The influence of environmental parameters on the evolution on design are discussed including the hull strength, steel grade, and stability, as well as operational parameters such as ship speed, crew procedures and maintenance. The paper highlights the importance of a risk analysis approach to evaluate the impact of climate change on the design and operation of the ship and offshore platforms in the Arctic. For offshore platforms in ice, ISO 19906 recommends that probabilistic methods be used to determine ice actions. Such an approach can also be used to assess the effects of different climate change scenarios based on either temperature trends or future temperature assumptions. It is important to note that ice loads may reduce under various future climate change scenarios. Whether or not to take advantage of such potential reductions will be a key issue for future projects. The risk analysis approach could be helpful in this regard. The analysis has shown that the climate change may have an optimistic influence on some design or operational parameters but others may have a negative influence on some of these parameters. It is clear that the issue is complex and requires in depth research, and that the industry needs to cooperate in further development as climate change plays an important role.