Derek Moscato
Climate change discourses loom large over the Arctic even as the growth of energy, mining, and transportation opportunities align with growing demand for global commodities. A prominent forum for mediating these conversations to stakeholders and publics has been the Arctic Council. This article examines the emergence of Arctic Council dialogue as a global intergovernmental forum in the Arctic and a conduit for economic-ecological communication. A textual analysis of the forum’s declarations over two decades analyzes the relationships between stakeholders in the Arctic and emergent discourse frameworks. As a vehicle for analysis, it helps to identify the embedded or proclaimed interests of government and markets—and the relationship between climate change with political, social, and cultural forms. Analyzing Arctic Council Declarations from annual meetings also highlights the mediatization of political action and the trajectory of the organization’s environmental mandate over the past quarter-century.
