Arctic Council

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Current logo

Map of current Arctic Council national members.

The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum which addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic.

1 History of the Arctic Council
2 Arctic Council Membership
3 Observers to the Arctic Council
4 Meetings of the Arctic Council
5 Coordinating the Work of the Arctic Council
6 Working Groups
7 See also
8 External link

[edit] 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.

[edit] Arctic Council Membership

Current council members include Canada, Denmark, 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. Denmark and Sweden will share the Chair of the Council for 2006-2008.

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.

[edit] 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 he Association of World Reindeer Herders, the University of the Arctic and the WWF-Arctic Programme.

[edit] 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 next Ministerial meeting takes place later this month in Salekhard, Russia and will be capped by the proclamation of the Salekhard Declaration.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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

Arctic Climate Impact Assessment
Arctic Human Development Report
Arctic Council Action Plan to Eliminate Pollution of the Arctic [6] (ACAP)
Regional Programme of Action for the protection of the Arctic Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities [7]