Map of current Arctic Council national members in light blue. Observer nations in dark blue The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum which addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 351 pixelsFull resolution (1425 × 625 pixel, file size: 63 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 351 pixelsFull resolution (1425 × 625 pixel, file size: 63 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
IGO redirects here. ...
The red line indicates the 10°C isotherm in July, commonly used to define the Arctic region border Satellite image of the Arctic surface The Arctic is the region around the Earths North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. ...
History of the Arctic Council
The first step towards the formation of the Council occurred in 1991 when eight Arctic countries signed the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS). In 1996, the Ottawa Declaration led to the formation of the Arctic Council in order to ensure environmental, social and economic sustainable development in the Arctic region. Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ...
Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...
Sustainable development is defined as balancing the fulfillment of human needs with the protection of the natural environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but in the indefinite future. ...
Arctic Council Membership Current council members include Canada, Denmark (representing Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States of America. As of 2006, Norway is serving as Chair of the Council. Chairmanship of the Council rotates every two years among the eight national members. Canada (1996-1998) served as first Chair of the Arctic Council, followed by the United States (1998-2000), Finland (2000-2002), Iceland (2002-2004), and Russia (2004-2006) before Norway assumed the present Chair (2006-2008). Denmark and Sweden will share the Chair of the Council after 2008. Norway, Denmark and Sweden have agreed on a set of common priorities for the three chairmanships. Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Six Arctic indigenous communities have the status of Permanent Participants on the Council. These groups are represented by the Aleut International Association, Arctic Athabaskan Council, Gwich'in Council International, Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, and the Saami Council. Inuit Circumpolar Conference or ICC, is an multinational nongovernmental organization representing 150,000 Inuit, living in Canada (Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon Territory), the United States (Alaska), Greenland, and on the Russian peninsula of Chukotka. ...
Observers to the Arctic Council In addition, there are a number of officially sanctioned Observers to the Arctic Council, among them six non-arctic nations - France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Spain (as of October 2006), the United Kingdom; several international organizations - Arctic Parliamentarians, IUCN, the International Red Cross Federation, the Nordic Council, the Northern Forum, UNEP, UNDP; and a handful of non-governmental organizations such as the Association of World Reindeer Herders, the University of the Arctic and the WWF-Arctic Programme. The University of the Arctic, based out of Finland, is a network of cooperative universities, colleges and other organizations, providing higher education and research in the North. ...
Meetings of the Arctic Council The Arctic Council convenes approximately every six months at a site within the host Chair's nation for a Senior Arctic Officials (SAO) meeting. SAO's are high level representatives of each of the eight member nations - sometimes Ambassadors, often just senior foreign ministry officials entrusted with staff-level coordination. Representatives of the six Permanent Participants and the official Observers also are in attendance.
At the end of the two-year cycle, the Chair hosts a Ministerial-level meeting, which is the culmination of the Council's work for that period. Most of the eight member nations are represented by a Minister from their Foreign Affairs, Northern Affairs or Environment Ministry.
A formal, though non-binding, "Declaration," named for the town in which the Ministerial meeting is held, is announced, which generally sums up the past accomplishments and the future work of the Council. These Declarations cover the main topical areas that the Council is concered with, including climate change, sustainable development, arctic monitoring and assessment, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other contaminants in the Arctic, and the work of the five Working Groups of the Council. The last Ministerial meeting took place October 26, 2006 in Salekhard, Russia.
Coordinating the Work of the Arctic Council Each rotating Chair nation accepts responsibility for creating a Secretariat, which handles overall coordination of Council activity, which includes organizing the semi-annual meetings, hosting the Council website, and distribution of the various reports and documents pertinent to the work of the Council. Most of the member nations would like to establish a permanent Secretariat, but this idea has been consistently vetoed by the United States since the inception of the Council.
Working Groups The real work within the Arctic Council is done in cooperative fashion within five Working Groups and three Programs & Action Plans:
Working Groups
- Arctic Monitoring & Assessment Programme[1] (AMAP)
- Conservation of Arctic Flora & Fauna [2] (CAFF)
- Emergency Prevention, Preparedness & Response [3](EPPR)
- Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment [4](PAME)
- Sustainable Development Working Group [5](SDWG)
Programs and Action Plans The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) is a study describing the ongoing climate change in the Arctic and its consequences: rising temperatures, loss of sea ice, unprecedented melting of the Greenland ice sheet, and many impacts on ecosystems, animals, and people. ...
The Arctic Human Development Report is the first comprehensive assessment of human well-being covering the entire Arctic region. ...
See also The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) is a study describing the ongoing climate change in the Arctic and its consequences: rising temperatures, loss of sea ice, unprecedented melting of the Greenland ice sheet, and many impacts on ecosystems, animals, and people. ...
The Arctic Human Development Report is the first comprehensive assessment of human well-being covering the entire Arctic region. ...
The International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) is a non-governmental organization which is composed of international science groups participating in arctic science research. ...
Klaus Töpfer, former UNEP Exec. ...
External link - www.arctic-council.org - Arctic Council
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