332
Arctic Yearbook 2013
Challenges & Opportunities Ahead for the Arctic Council
Secretariat will be an early indicator of whether improved communication and outreach to a global
audience is high on the agenda.
In an era of continued misinformation about the Arctic, Canada can make a lasting contribution to
the Council‘s influence by enhancing its education and outreach efforts through the new Tromsø
Secretariat.
A significant challenge facing Canada as Council Chair is the integration of the twelve non-Arctic
state observers into the Council‘s work. China, India, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea and Singapore
were admitted in Kiruna, joining France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United
Kingdom. The new observers have met criteria for admission including recognition of Council
objectives and sovereignty of the Arctic states; recognition of the legal framework for the Arctic
Ocean as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; and, respecting the interests and
cultural heritage of Arctic indigenous peoples and other Arctic inhabitants. Despite some
reservations by the Council‘s Permanent Participants (six Arctic indigenous organizations) regarding
these admissions, all of the new, non-Arctic state observers can bring expertise and funding to the
technical working groups and the Permanent Participants. Importantly, their primary role is to
observe all aspects of the Council‘s deliberations. No other Arctic forum can provide this high level
of engagement with the Arctic states. Hopefully, Canada can also coax from them contributions that
can support the interests of the indigenous peoples and the working groups where the non-Arctic
state observers can be most influential.
Most of the Arctic is an ocean and new marine traffic requires immediate attention by the Arctic
states to address marine safety and environmental protection issues. Fortunately, Canada has been a
leader in these efforts at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and these issues collectively
are a key agenda theme for the Canadian Chairmanship. Also, the Council has its own policy
framework for action in the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) approved by consensus of
the Arctic Ministers in 2009. Continued focus on implementing AMSA‘s 17 recommendations - a
mandatory IMO Polar Code for shipping is the most critical - would go a long way to protecting
Arctic people and the marine environment. Canada, Finland and the United States led the AMSA for
four years and they are conveniently the three next Council Chairs. These three states should agree
to focus and coordinate their efforts on Arctic marine safety and marine environmental protection
as key elements of their plans to lead the Arctic Council during the next six years. Related to these
AMSA implementation efforts is a new task force on oil pollution prevention approved by the
Arctic Ministers at the Kiruna Ministerial; an Arctic Council action plan and recommendations are
to be developed by the next Ministerial meeting in 2015. It will be interesting to see how the work of
this task force links with ongoing work of the Council‘s own working group on Protection of the
Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) and the Polar Code development at the IMO.
Attention on the Arctic‘s residents has always been a critical focus of the Arctic Council. The six
Permanent Participants sit with the Arctic states at Council meetings and are key partners in this
forum. Circumpolar health and education are critical issues as is the sustainability of life in the
North. With competing uses of the Arctic Ocean, subsistence and food security are looming issues
facing many Arctic coastal communities. Canada‘s circumpolar leadership role in focusing on an
array of indigenous challenges in all Arctic regions can set a new level of engagement by the Council.