With some exceptions pertaining to specific issues or regions, cooperation in the North has not been a prominent goal of the international community until relatively recently. International cooperation began to evolve rapidly after then Soviet Secretary-General Mikhail Gorbachev delivered a speech in 1987 calling for “a genuine zone of peace and fruitful cooperation” among Arctic states.1
There is now a plethora of official bodies, both governmental and non-governmental, whose purpose is to manage various issues in the Arctic. Although none has any legal basis as established by, for instance, international treaty, these organizations have assumed an important role in the development of Arctic cooperation.
This paper provides information about some of the more important of these organizations, with particular emphasis on the Arctic Council and some domestic Canadian examples.
The principal body for Arctic cooperation, the Arctic Council2 (Figure 1) was formally established in 1996 with the signing of the Ottawa Declaration by Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
The Council serves as a high-level intergovernmental forum to promote cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic states on common issues, particularly those concerning sustainable development and environmental protection.
Figure 1 – The Arctic Council
Sources: Map prepared by the Library of Parliament, Ottawa, 2016, using data from Timothy Heleniak, “Arctic Populations and Migration,” Chapter 2 in Arctic Human Development Report: Regional Processes and Global Linkages [AHDR], Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2014; Winfried K. Dallmann, Arctic Boundaries Map (Arctic boundary according to AHDR), Norwegian Polar Institute; and Natural Earth, 1:50m Cultural Vectors and 1:50m Physical Vectors. The following software was used: Esri, ArcGIS, version 10.3.1. Contains information licensed under Open Government Licence – Canada.
Arctic Council Ministerial Meetings are held every two years, hosted by the country that holds the chair. The chair coordinates arrangements for the Ministerial Meetings and for the twice-yearly meetings of the Senior Arctic Officials. Since 2010, in the years between Ministerial Meetings, meetings have been held at the deputy ministerial level. The chair is held for the period after the conclusion of one Ministerial Meeting until the conclusion of the next.
For the period 2006–2012, the three countries that chaired the Arctic Council (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) prepared a set of common objectives and priorities. Canada was chair from 2013 to 2015,3 followed by the United States.4 The Arctic Council chair will be held by Finland from 2017 to 2019.
The Arctic Council also provides for the active involvement of and consultation with indigenous communities and organizations, as well as other Arctic inhabitants, particularly by way of the designation of Permanent Participants,5 which include the following:
The Arctic Council has its roots in the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS), which came into being when the eight Arctic states signed the Rovaniemi Declaration in 1991.6 The objectives of the Declaration were to:
The Arctic Council was created, in part, to oversee and coordinate the programs established under the AEPS. As established by the Rovaniemi Declaration, these programs, often referred to by their acronyms, are as follows:
With the establishment of the Arctic Council, the programs of the AEPS became “working groups,” and two other groups were added:
The Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (CPAR) comprises delegations appointed by the national parliaments of the eight Arctic states and the European Parliament.9 The CPAR also includes Permanent Participants representing indigenous peoples, as well as observers. The conference meets every two years. The 11th CPAR conference having been held in 2014 in Whitehorse, Yukon,10 the 12th CPAR conference will take place in June 2016 in Ulan Ude, Russia.
Between conferences, Arctic parliamentary cooperation is carried out by the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, which started its activities in 1993.11 The Conference and Standing Committee take initiatives to further Arctic cooperation, and, in particular, to act as a parliamentary forum to discuss and advance action on issues relevant to the work of the Arctic Council. The Standing Committee takes part in the work of the Council as an observer.
Participants at the Third Northern Regions Conference, “Cooperation in a Changing World,” held in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1990, called for a Northern Forum12 to be established with the objective of “improv[ing] the quality of local, national, and international decision-making regarding northern issues by providing a means through which northern voices can be heard at all stages of the process.” The Northern Forum (NF) was formally established the following year.
The NF is directed by a board of governors consisting of senior political leaders – governors, premiers, presidents and mayors – of member regions and has included the premiers of Alberta, Quebec, Nunavut and Yukon. Membership as a partner to the NF is also available to businesses and to non-profit and non-governmental organizations.
The objectives of the NF are:
The Arctic Circle13 is an organization created by Iceland on 15 April 2013. Its mission is to facilitate dialogue among political and business leaders, environmental experts, scientists, indigenous representatives and other international stakeholders to address issues facing the Arctic.
The annual Arctic Circle Assembly is held in October in Reykjavík, Iceland. In addition, the Arctic Circle organizes smaller forums on specific subjects, such as the 2015 forums in Alaska and Singapore, and the 2016 forums in Quebec and Greenland.
The four Arctic states that lie within Europe (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden), together with Iceland, which has strong historical ties to Europe, are termed the Nordic countries. Much of the cooperation among these states stems from issues shared with western Russia, the Baltic Sea and Barents Sea regions and the larger Nordic region, including international waters.
Cooperation on issues affecting the Arctic is of paramount importance in the West Nordic region between Greenland and Norway and in the Barents Sea region north of Norway, Finland and Russia. For example, the Barents Sea contains radioactive waste from the Soviet fleet, is subject to oil exploration and forms part of the northern sea route across Russia, all of which have consequences for the Arctic.
The Northern Dimension of European Union (EU) policy14 was established in the late 1990s as an EU policy intended to deal with issues concerning western Russia, and to increase general cooperation between the EU, Iceland and Norway. It has since become a multilateral, equal partnership among the EU, Iceland, Norway and Russia. Canada and the United States are observers to the partnership. In addition, this policy has spawned the Northern Dimension Forum, a regular forum with business and civil society representation.
The Northern Dimension remains focused on EU relations with western Russia, as it is a regional expression of the four EU–Russia Common Spaces15 (with the participation of Norway and Iceland as well). It has six priority areas for cooperation:
Other regional councils have been established to foster cooperation in the European north, of which some, including the following, are partners in the Northern Dimension:
Other notable northern interparliamentary organizations include the Nordic Council21and the West Nordic Council.22 The Nordic Council was formed in 1952 by members of the national parliaments representing the Nordic countries and autonomous territories. In addition to working on policy issues through committees and political party groups, the Nordic Council meets for plenary discussions with the Nordic ministers at the Council’s annual session.
Established in 1985, the West Nordic Council is an interparliamentary association of the west Nordic (north Atlantic) region, and includes the parliaments of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland. It is concerned with a variety of issues affecting the region, but in particular with resource management. It also represents the region in its interactions with the Nordic Council and other Nordic organizations.
Founded in 1977, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC)24 is now a major international non-governmental organization representing approximately 150,000 Inuit in Alaska, Canada, Chukotka (Russia) and Greenland. The ICC has Consultative Status II (now referred to as Special Consultative Status) with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, reflecting its recognized standing and special competence in indigenous issues. Its principal goals are to:
The ICC holds a General Assembly every four years that is also attended by representatives from the Inuit Circumpolar Youth Council and the International Elders Council. Its chair and eight-member Executive Council are elected to four year mandates at the General Assembly. The most recent General Assembly took place in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, in July 2014.
The Saami Council25 was established in 1956 as a non-governmental organization of Saami member organizations from Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden. Its primary goals are to promote Saami economic, social and cultural rights and interests in the four countries where the Saami reside, as well as to promote and protect the Saami national identity. These objectives are achieved through agreements between the states and the bodies representing the Saami people, that is, the Saami parliaments: “Saami Council renders opinions and makes proposals on questions concerning Saami people’s livelihoods, rights, language and culture and especially on issues concerning Saami in different countries.”26
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK, formerly the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada)27 was founded in 1971. It is the national organization representing and promoting the interests of Canada’s Inuit in a wide variety of environmental, social, cultural, and political issues and challenges.
The Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East (RAIPON)28 was created in 1990 at the First Congress of Indigenous Peoples of the North. Today, it unites 41 indigenous groups comprising 250,000 people represented by 34 regional and ethnic organizations.
Its goal is to protect the human rights and legal interests of the indigenous peoples in the northern, Siberian and far eastern regions of Russia, and to promote solutions to environmental, social and economic problems, as well as problems of cultural development and education.
RAIPON is particularly concerned with guaranteeing the protection of native homelands and traditional ways of life, as well as the right to self-governance according to national and international legal standards.
Comprising national science organizations covering all fields of Arctic research, the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC)29 was established in 1990, began operations in 1991 and today involves 23 member countries. The IASC’s mission is to encourage, facilitate and promote basic and applied interdisciplinary research in or concerned with the Arctic at a circumarctic or international level; and to provide scientific advice on arctic issues.
The University of the Arctic (UArctic)30 is a cooperative network of universities, colleges and other organizations31 committed to higher education and research in the North. UArctic is a decentralized organization whose offices, programs and other functions are hosted at member institutions in the circumpolar North. Its members share resources, facilities and expertise to develop post-secondary educational programs that are relevant and accessible to northern students.
Its overall goal is to foster the development of a strong, sustainable circumpolar region by empowering northerners and northern communities through education and shared knowledge. UArctic promotes interdisciplinary, diverse education that uses the network’s combined strengths to address the unique challenges of the circumpolar region. It recognizes the integral role of indigenous peoples in northern education and seeks to engage their perspectives in all of its activities.
On 1 June 2015, the Government of Canada established Polar Knowledge Canada,32 a federal research organization that focuses on advancing Canada’s polar science and technology. Polar Knowledge Canada combines the mandates of the former Canadian Polar Commission and the new Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS). CHARS, a research facility in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, will be operational in 2017.33
Polar Knowledge Canada has responsibility for advancing knowledge of the Canadian Arctic, promoting the development and dissemination of knowledge of other circumpolar regions, including the Antarctic, and establishing a hub for scientific research in the Canadian Arctic.
Formally established in 1981, the International Union for Circumpolar Health (IUCH)34 is a non-governmental organization with members, adhering bodies and affiliates throughout the circumpolar region. Its focus is the health problems and needs of northern peoples.
Its functions include disseminating medical knowledge, research findings and demonstrated solutions on the general and specific medical and health problems of Arctic communities. To support its members and affiliates, as well as the scientific and indigenous communities, the IUCH has established working groups that concentrate on specific health problems of importance to circumpolar populations. It also maintains several publications and supports international efforts in telemedicine and health informatics.
The International Polar Year (IPY)35 was a large scientific program focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic. An important aspect of its activities is the legacy of information about and organization in the polar regions. One of the most significant efforts in this regard is the creation of a Sustained Arctic Observation Network to meet scientific and societal needs. The Arctic Council recommended the creation of such a network in its 2006 Salekhard Declaration. The Swedish and Canadian IPY committees took the lead in launching this initiative.
The IPY was organized through the International Council for Science and the World Meteorological Organization. It followed in the tradition of other such events
in 1882–1883, 1932–1933 and 1957–1958.
To achieve full and equal coverage of both the Arctic and the Antarctic, IPY 2007–2008 covered two annual cycles from March 2007 to March 2009 and involved over 200 projects, engaging thousands of scientists from over 60 nations in the examination of a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics. Canada was a lead participating country, the federal government having committed $150 million to the IPY. The final event of the IPY was the conference entitled “From Knowledge to Action,” held in Montréal, from 22 to 27 April 2012.36
Following support from government ministers, embodied in the Arctic Council’s 2011 Nuuk Declaration,37 work has proceeded on an International Polar Decade Initiative.
† Papers in the Library of Parliament’s In Brief series are short briefings on current issues. At times, they may serve as overviews, referring readers to more substantive sources published on the same topic. They are prepared by the Parliamentary Information and Research Service, which carries out research for and provides information and analysis to parliamentarians and Senate and House of Commons committees and parliamentary associations in an objective, impartial manner. [ Return to text ]
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