Belén Sánchez Ramos is a Senior Lecturer in International Public Law at the University of Vigo, Spain.
264
Strengthening the Capacity of the Arctic Council:
Is the Permanent Secretariat a First Step?
Belén Sánchez Ramos
The Arctic Council was created in 1996 as a high level intergovernmental forum to promote cooperation, coordination
and interaction between the Arctic States. It has two primary objectives: i) to promote environmental protection; ii)
sustainable development in the Arctic region. The Arctic Council is the primary forum for international cooperation in
the region, and the Permanent Arctic Council Secretariat was created with the aim of responding to the different
challenges it faces. According to its Terms of Reference ―the Secretariat will enhance the work of the Arctic Council
through the establishment of administrative capacity and by providing continuity, institutional memory, operational
efficiency, enhanced communication and outreach, exchange of information with other relevant international
organizations and to support activities of the Arctic Council‖. So while a Permanent Secretariat has been created, no
changes have been made to the structure of this intergovernmental forum (i.e. working groups) and the way the decisions
are taken. We believe that the main question to be explored is to what extent this change will be sufficient in order to
reinforce the capacity of the Arctic Council, or if it would be desirable to go even further, with the creation of an
international organization. It is also necessary to analyze
the new criteria for admitting observers and their involvement
in the Arctic Council. In this case, the European Union applied to become an observer to the Arctic Council on 1
December 2008.
Introduction
Since 1996, when the Arctic Council (AC) was created, the environmental situation in the Arctic has
changed dramatically. Today, strengthening the capacity of the Arctic Council is essential in order to
reduce the effects of climate change in the Arctic region. Over the last few years, a significant
decrease in the amount of sea ice has been reported due to increased global and regional
temperatures.
1
One of its consequences is that seasonal freight routes are beginning to be accessible