Arctic Council - Highlights

The eight Arctic states rotate the chairmanships of the organizations, currently occupied by Sweden. The Norwegian, Danish and now the Swedish chairmanships have common objectives for their Arctic Council chairmanships between 2006 and 2013.

The first objective relates to climate change.
The aim is to follow up on the findings of the ACIA report and pursue implementation of the recommendations set out in the ACIA Policy Document adopted at the 2004 Ministerial Meeting. The Council "should continue its efforts to provide high quality information on climate change that includes input from all Arctic states and peoples."

The next objective is the integrated management of resources.

Sustainable use of resources and protection of the environment will be important issues for the Council in coming years. The needs of Arctic communities and indigenous peoples will be in the forefront. A key objective is to enhance discussion on and promote the integrated management of natural resource use in accordance with high environmental standards. More work is also needed on the management of chemicals, to eliminate such threats to people and the environment as chemical waste and diffuse contamination.

The third objective is regarding the International Polar Year 2007-2008 (IPY)

Although the International Polar Year has passed its legacy is still ongoing. The IPY has given scientific research a boost in the Arctic and highlight the importance of the Polar Regions through several major events. The next three chairmanships will work closely with the IPY Joint Committee to provide political support for the IPY effort and to ensure that IPY results are taken into account in policy-making.

The fourth objective relates to Indigenous peoples and local living conditions

A cluster to bring together the various Arctic Council activities in this field should be considered. For many indigenous peoples, a combination of subsistence living and paid work provides the economic basis for a way of life that bridges traditional and modern modes of production. Reindeer husbandry and hunting for Arctic mammals are activities unique to the Arctic. Documentation and research on indigenous issues such as indigenous languages should be promoted in the interests of preserving culture and identity.

The fifth and last Management issues

The AC can look back on 10 years of successful cooperation, and 15 years of working to implement the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy. Valuable experience has been gained. It is very important that the AC continues ongoing evaluations of how it works, to ensure that its limited resources are used as efficiently as possible, according to the Council's website. A joint secretariat, led by the Chair of Senior Arctic Officials (SAO), was established in Tromsø for the period 2006-2012.