U.S. Chairmanship News

Senior officials from the Arctic Council’s eight member States and six indigenous Permanent Participant organizations (PPs) concluded their latest meeting in Portland, Maine on 6 October 2016.

The Arctic Council’s Senior Arctic Officials (SAOs) and indigenous Permanent Participant organizations (PPs) will meet in Portland, Maine on 5-6 October 2016 to discuss the Council’s ongoing work and future plans to address environmental issues and promote sustainable development in the Arctic.

On the occasion of the Arctic Council's 20th anniversary, we asked Ambassador David Balton, the current Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials, for some of his thoughts on the Council's past, present, and future. This is the last of three segments.

On the occasion of the Arctic Council's 20th anniversary, we asked Ambassador David Balton, the current Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials, for some of his thoughts on the Council's past, present, and future. This is the second of three segments.

On the occasion of the Arctic Council's 20th anniversary, we asked Ambassador David Balton, the current Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials, for some of his thoughts on the Council's past, present, and future. This is the first of three segments.

A joint statement from Ministers of the Arctic States on the occasion of the Arctic Council's 20th anniversary

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A joint statement from Ministers of the Arctic States on the occasion of the Arctic Council's 20th anniversary

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On September 19, 1996 in Ottawa, the Arctic Council was established as a high level intergovernmental forum to enhance cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States with the active involvement of Arctic indigenous peoples and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues. Today, we celebrate twenty years of Arctic cooperation and look forward to a long term future of peace and stability in the region.

“We covered so much ground here, and it was great to sense so much progress being made in these important areas." - EPPR Chair Amy Merten

Although workshops and exercises have been conducted under the “Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic” since 2014, the formal ratification process was completed in late March 2016.

At a meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska, March 15-17, the Arctic Council gathered Senior Arctic Officials (SAOs) from the eight Arctic States, and the six Permanent Participant organizations representing indigenous peoples of the Arctic, to address ongoing efforts on a range of topics of high importance for the Arctic.

Read an interview with Roberta Burns, the Chair of the Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG).

The Arctic Council’s Senior Arctic Officials (SAOs) and indigenous Permanent Participant organizations will meet in Fairbanks, Alaska on 16-17 March 2016 to discuss the Council’s projects, structure and functioning, as well as its future work. The United States currently holds the rotating Chairmanship of the Council, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

The Arctic Council's Task Force on Telecommunications Infrastructure in the Arctic (TFTIA) was established at the Iqaluit 2015 Ministerial Meeting and held its first meeting in September 2015. We spoke with the co-chairs, Bo Andersen (Norway) and Niels Andersen (Kingdom of Denmark) about their backgrounds and expectations for the work of the Task Force.

The Task Force on Arctic Marine Cooperation (TFAMC) was established at the 2015 Arctic Council ministerial meeting to assess the future needs for a mechanism for increased cooperation in Arctic marine areas.

Representatives from the eight Arctic States and the Permanent Participants (six organizations representing Arctic Indigenous peoples) met in Anchorage, Alaska on October 20-22, 2015 to advance the work of the Arctic Council.

On 20-22 October 2015, the Arctic Council will convene in Anchorage, Alaska, for its first plenary meeting since the United States assumed the Chairmanship of the Council.  The meeting brings together the Arctic States, Permanent Participants (six organizations representing Arctic Indigenous peoples), Working Groups and Observers.

Read an interview with Martin Forsius, the new Chair of AMAP (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme), an Arctic Council Working Group…

On 16-17 June 2015 in Washington, D.C., Senior Arctic Officials, Permanent Participants and Working Groups met to begin moving forward with the Arctic Council's program for 2015-17...

The last of three thematic pillars of the United States Chairmanship program is “Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change”…

At the 9th Arctic Council ministerial meeting, held in Iqaluit, Nunavut Canada in April 2015, the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Canada’s Minister for the Arctic Council, formally handed the Arctic Council Chairmanship to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, chair of the Arctic Council during the U.S. Chairmanship. On this occasion, Arctic ministers adopted an ambitious new work plan organized around three thematic pillars. The second of these – Arctic Ocean safety, security & stewardship – is addressed by numerous elements of the Council’s work plan for the years ahead.