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Arctic Yearbook 2013
Strengthening the Capacity of the Arctic Council
Conclusions
This article analyzes how to strengthen the AC by means of the ―package solution‖ and,
consequently, the creation of the Arctic Council Secretariat, the role of observers and the nature of
the decisions taken in the Arctic Council. In addition to various considerations set out in the main
body of text, we would like to point out that, in view of the Kiruna Declaration, the ACS is not an
end point on the path towards strengthening the AC:
The work of the AC continues to evolve to respond to new challenges and
opportunities in the Arctic, request Senior Arctic Officials to recommend ways and
means to strengthen how the work of the AC is carried out including identifying
opportunities for Arctic States to use the Council‘s work to influence and shape
action in other regional and international fora as well as identifying approaches to
support the active participation of Permanent Participants, and to present a report
on their work at the next Ministerial meeting in 2015 (Kiruna Declaration 2013: 6).
The open question is where these changes are heading. Today we do not have an answer to this
question, but there are several alternatives that would help to strengthen the AC. We would suggest
two: 1) to continue strengthening the AC by means of external action (for example, the International
Maritime Organization (IMO) is working on a binding Polar Code, although the AC does not
participate in this Organization) or by means of greater coordination between its participants; 2) we
believe that the creation of an International Organization is the best way to improve the global
governance of the Arctic. In this sense, the AC needs to take a further step towards being an
International Organization, in a similar way as the step taken in the past from the Arctic
Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS) to the Arctic Council. The objective of this International
Organization would be the strengthening of the cooperation between the Arctic States, given the
special characteristics of that area. There is no single model for International Organizations, so the
Arctic States could choose a flexible design according to their interests and goals. However, the
recent creation of the Task Force to facilitate the creation of Circumpolar Business Forum indicates
that the changes are heading in another direction.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to two anonymous referees whose comments and suggestions substantially improved
this article. Remaining errors are the sole responsibility of the author.
Notes
1.
In 2012 alone, a new minimum for the extent of Arctic sea ice was set in September,
eclipsing the dramatic previous new low set only five years before in 2007; the sea surface
temperature on the ice margins continued to exceed the long-term average; the Greenland
ice sheet experienced melting over some 97 per cent of its expanse in a single day; and
massive phytoplankton blooms were measured below the Arctic summer sea ice, an