Arctic cooperation and politics are partially coordinated via the Arctic Council, composed of the eight Arctic nations of the United States of America, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Denmark with Greenland and The Faroe Islands. The dominant governmental power in Arctic policy resides within the executive offices, legislative bodies, and implementing agencies of the eight Arctic nations, and to a lesser extent other nations, such as United Kingdom, Germany, European Union and China. Naturally, NGOs and Academia play a large part in Arctic policy. Also important are inter-governmental bodies such as the United Nations (especially as relates to the Law of the Sea Treaty) and NATO.
Though Arctic policy priorities differ, every Arctic nation is concerned about sovereignty and defense, resource development, shipping routes, and environmental protection. Though several boundary and resource disputes in the Arctic remain unsolved, there is remarkable conformity of stated policy directives among Arctic nations and a broad consensus toward peace and cooperation in the region.[1] Obstacles that remain include United States non-ratification of the UNCLOS and the harmonizing of all UNCLOS territorial claims (most notably ownership of the Lomonosov Ridge); the dispute over the Northwest Passage; and securing agreements on regulations regarding shipping, tourism, and resource development in Arctic waters.
The Arctic Council membership includes the eight Arctic nations and organizations representing six indigenous populations. It operates on consensus basis, mostly dealing with environmental treaties and not addressing boundary or resource disputes. (Although the Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement was signed in May 2011, the Council's first binding treaty). A more robust Arctic Council with decision-making power on pan-Arctic resource and other issues has been proposed.
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Members include the eight Arctic Nations: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and United States. Permanent participants are these six indigenous groups:
Arctic Council Working Groups: • Arctic Monitoring & Assessment Programme (AMAP) http://amap.no • Conservation of Arctic Flora & Fauna (CAFF) • Emergency Prevention, Preparedness & Response (EPPR) • Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) • Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) • Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP)
In Tromsø, Norway on April 29, 2009, Arctic Council ministers approved a task force to create an international Search & Rescue (SAR) instrument for the Arctic by the next meeting in 2011.[2] In Nuuk, Greenland on May 12, 2011, ministers signed a Search & Rescue agreement, the Arctic Council's first law-bound treaty.
CPAR is a parliamentary body comprising delegations appointed by the national parliaments of the Arctic states (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, U.S.) and the European Parliament. The conference also includes Indigenous peoples groups as Permanent Participants, and observers. The conference meets every two years, last in Oslo June 7, 2010. Between conferences the Arctic parliamentary cooperation is carried on by a Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, which started its activities in 1994.
Foreign ministers of the five Arctic Ocean coastal states (Russia, US, Canada, Norway, and Denmark (Greenland)) met:
The IMO was established in 1948 to develop and maintain a comprehensive regulatory framework for shipping. The IMO spent years negotiating an Arctic Code for shipping, but ultimately downgraded the Code to a set of voluntary Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice-Covered Waters (adopted in 2002). The Guidelines provide uniform safety, pollution prevention, and security standards for ocean carriers.[3]
The World Winter Cities Association for Mayors (WWCAM) is a network of international winter cities that provides opportunities to learn about winter technologies and experiences under the slogan “Winter is a Resource and an Asset.” The Association was formerly known as the Northern Intercity Conference of Mayors and was founded by the city of Sapporo in 1981. The 15th World Winter Cities Conference for Mayors will be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in January or February 2012.
The Nordic Council is the Nordic inter-parliamentary body, while the Nordic Council of Ministers is the inter-governmental body. Members include: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the autonomous territories of Åland Islands (Finland), Faroe Islands (Denmark) and Greenland (Denmark).
Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) is the forum for intergovernmental cooperation in the Barents Region established in 1993 to "provide impetus to existing cooperation and consider new initiatives and proposals".[4]
The PNWER Arctic Caucus formed informally in November 2010 as a loose alliance between Alaska and the Canadian Provinces of Northwest Territories and the Yukon. Members include legislators, government officials, business and non-profit leaders. The group plans to work with the Arctic Council, Inuit Circumpolar Council, the Northern Forum and others to increase the opportunities for the state/territorial governments “To provide a forum to share information and develop regional policies related to the Arctic and Arctic development.” The Caucus will also work to deliver a harmonized message to their respective federal governments on common needs of the region. The Caucus met Dec. 1 and 2 in Barrow, Alaska; at the PNWER Summit in Portland, Oregon July 2011; and in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories August 17-19, 2011.[5]
Main goals in U.S. Arctic Policy are: National security; Protecting the Arctic environment and wildlife; Ensuring economic development is environmentally sustainable; Strengthening cooperative institutions among the eight Arctic nations; Including the Arctic’s indigenous communities in decisions; and Improving scientific monitoring and research.[6]
On January 9, 2009, President Bush signed National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD)-66 on Arctic Region Policy,[7] a collaborative effort replacing the Clinton era Arctic policy directive. NSPD-66 is currently the active Arctic policy playbook being pursued by the Obama Administration and its Departments.
The U.S. Arctic Policy Group is a federal interagency working group comprising those agencies with programs and/or involvement in research and monitoring, land and natural resources management, environmental protection, human health, transportation and policy making in the Arctic. The APG is chaired by the Department of State and meets monthly to develop and implement U.S. programs and policies in the Arctic, including those relevant to the activities of the Arctic Council.
State Department’s Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs (OPA) is a part of the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES). OPA is responsible for formulating and implementing U.S. policy on international issues concerning the oceans, the Arctic, and Antarctica.
Canada has more Arctic land mass than any country. On August 23, 2010, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper said protection of Canada's sovereignty over its northern regions was its number one and "non-negotiable priority" in Arctic policy.[8] Canada has slated $109 million, to be spent before 2014, for research to substantiate extended continental shelf claims.[9] Canada's Arctic policy priorities are: to try to resolve boundary issues; to secure international recognition for the full extent of Canada's extended continental shelf; and to address Arctic governance and related emerging issues, such as public safety.
G-7 finance ministers met in Nunavut in February 2010.
The Norwegian Polar Institute in Tromsø is hosting the Arctic Council Secretariat from 2007–2013.
The Finnish Arctic Strategy was released June 4, 2010 and concentrates on seven priority areas: security, environment, economy, infrastructure, arctic indigenous residents, institutions and the European Union.[10]
In 2007, Russia planted a flag on the Arctic Ocean seafloor beneath the North Pole to claim territory—a claim Canada and other Arctic nations rebuked. In 2009, a Russian policy report foresaw potential for military conflict over Arctic resources.[11] Despite having lost 18 percent of its population between 1989 and 2002, the Russian Arctic still contains 80 percent of the 4 million people who inhabit the Arctic region.[12]
If Accession of Iceland to the European Union occurs, the EU will increase its Arctic influence and possibly gain permanent observer status in the Arctic Council. The Northern Dimension of European Union policy, established in the late 1990s, intended to deal with issues concerning western Russia, as well as to increase general cooperation among the EU, Iceland and Norway. It has since become a multilateral, equal partnership among the EU, Iceland, Norway and Russia. Canada and the United States are observers to the partnership. Three Nordic Council members have joined the EU (Denmark in 1973 and Sweden & Finland in 1995). The European Union’s application to become a “permanent observer” in the Arctic Council was blocked in 2009 by Canada in response to the European Union’s ban on the importation of seal products.[13]
Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration
South Korea has an icebreaker and is building another. The country is investing in LNG infrastructure near Inuvik, where LNG will be shipped from the Beaufort Sea and south through the Bering Strait.
Several other treaties govern the Arctic region:
The five Arctic littoral states have sovereignty within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 200 nautical miles from their coasts, but the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) allows them to extend their economic zone if they can prove that the Arctic seafloor’s underwater ridges are a geological extension of the country’s own continental shelf.[14]
In 2001 Russia was the first Arctic littoral state to submit a request to the UN to extend its continental shelf border beyond 200-miles. The UN turned down the request for lack of evidence, and Russia now plans to file again in 2013.[15]
Denmark and Canada dispute ownership of Hans Island in the Nares Straight between Ellesmere Island and Greenland.
On April 27, 2010, Norway and Russia announced an end to their 40-year arctic border dispute in the Barents Sea. Future joint energy development is expected.[16]
Maritime boundaries between Canada and the United States in the Beaufort Sea and between Canada and Denmark in Baffin Bay remain under dispute.[17]
Denmark (Greenland), Russia and Canada have competing territorial claims over the sovereignty of the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater mountain chain in the central Arctic Ocean.[18]
Recently completed Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment. Predictions for ice-free Arctic Ocean conditions in the summer range from 2013 to 2060, the consensus being for part of the summer by 2030. In November 2011, a Cambridge University study predicted an Arctic free of summer ice by 2015. [19] No models predict winter sea-ice cover will disappear during this century.[20]
Key Arctic fishery regimes include: