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Arctic Yearbook 2013
Dubois, Shestakov & Tesar
CBD to fulfill or exceed their commitments under the Aichi Targets to conserve at least 10
per cent of their coastal and marine areas by 2020.
Work towards enhancing the safety of Arctic shipping lanes, including with the IMO, by
conducting an analysis of existing and emerging Arctic shipping lanes and identifying gaps in
infrastructure and mapping.
Promote cooperation with non-Arctic states to address threats on the staging and wintering
grounds and the migrating corridors of migratory species, for example through working
towards multi-lateral and bi-lateral agreements under the Convention on the Conservation of
Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
Develop a mechanism to coordinate a common approach to the United Nations climate
negotiations with the goal of a climate agreement by 2015 that will keep the global average
temperature from rising by more than two degrees and engage observer states to support the
Arctic position.
Conclusions – Challenges of Delivering Conservation Results
The question of how, and with what effect, the Arctic Council influences global governance
processes is critical to keeping the Council relevant in the global arena. Arctic council ministers
recognized this challenge in the Kiruna Declaration, when they spoke of the need to strengthen the
role of the Council in international processes. Answering the challenge requires a research agenda
which will help Arctic stakeholders to fully understand current and emerging management of
institutional interplay.
WWF is ready to play a constructive role in supporting this effort and provide capacity for the
Arctic Voice to materialize in order to manage Arctic regional and global institutional interplay and
aiming for greater effectiveness in protecting the Arctic marine environment.
WWF‘s goal is to work with Arctic states, Arctic Indigenous peoples and observers to promote the
closure of the ‗governance gaps‘, protection and preservation of the Arctic Ocean and sustainable
ecosystem-based management of its resources.
Broader international institutions are important to the comprehensive delivery of the
implementation of the AOR recommendations because of the need for adequate actor coverage.
The importance of examining interplay within larger complexes of institutions will enable the Arctic
Council to retain leadership in the overall governance of the region. Regular reports on progress
regarding implementation of the AOR recommendations as secured in the Kiruna Declaration are
crucial to ensure follow-up activities and to communicate the relevance of the Council to the Arctic
stewardship agenda. The following step will be to expand reporting to include review of national
implementation efforts.
The time is ripe for the Arctic Council to change or expand its niche from knowledge-building
activities to Arctic voice building efforts, ensuring that where possible Council members have