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advancing the substantive work of the AC, including the organization of activities to follow up on
findings and recommendations of assessments‖.
Although the nature of the decisions taken in the AC and the increased use of task forces were one
of the issues of the ―package solution‖ aimed at strengthening the AC, they do not contain anything
new. Firstly, there is no change in how decisions will be adopted: all of the Arctic Council‘s
decisions will be adopted through the consensus of all eight Arctic States
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, and secondly, they are
not binding decisions. However, the Task Forces are very important for two reasons: firstly, their
number and specialization and secondly, the type of decisions that can be adopted. As the SAO
pointed out ―Task Forces may be necessary for specific initiatives that require unique expertise and,
in those instances, the composition and mode of operation of the Task Force would be determined
on a case-by-case basis‖ (SAO Report to Ministers, Nuuk, 2011: 49-50).
If we examine the Kiruna Declaration (2013), we see that four new Task Forces have been created
for the period 2013-2015: 1) the Task Force for action on Black Carbon and Methane; 2) the Task
Force on Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Prevention; 3) the Task Force for enhancing scientific
Cooperation in the Arctic; and 4) the Task Force to Facilitate the creation of a Circumpolar Business
Forum. We would draw attention to the last Task Force, as its main objective is:
to advance circumpolar business development by creating a Circumpolar Business
Forum (CBF) to bring circumpolar business perspectives to the work of the AC,
providing value to Arctic States and Permanent Participants. The CBF will focus
initially on responsible resource development, and would provide a venue for
industries, and indigenous businesses operating in the Arctic to advance Arctic-
oriented business interest, share best practices, forge partnerships, and engage in
deeper cooperation.
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This is the first time that the AC has proposed the idea of creating another forum for cooperation
between the Arctic States, meaning the existence of
two
forums of circumpolar cooperation.
Although each of these forums will have its own field of competence, several crucial questions will
arise concerning their functioning (such as their objectives and governance structure), and also the
link between the AC and the CBF: will the new Forum contribute towards the global governance of
the region? Would a new body in the AC be more effective and coherent than the CBF? The
forthcoming drafts from the Task Force will provide us with the answers to these questions.
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Finally, it should be noted that under the auspices of the AC (more specifically, two Task Forces)
the
Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic
(Nuuk
Declaration, 2011) and
the Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the
Arctic
(Kiruna Declaration, 2013) have been negotiated and signed by the eight Arctic States. These
are normal international treaties, negotiated under the auspices of the AC. Yet, even if negotiated
under the AC auspices, it is the customary law of treaties that applies to these conventions as
codified by the Vienna Convention on the law of treaties.