Arctic Council
The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum for promoting international cooperation, sustainable development, environmental protection and coordination. The council’s eight member countries all have territorial land above the Arctic Circle and include: Canada, U.S, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Greenland (Denmark/Faroe Islands). Since its inception in 1996, the council has provided a key vehicle for conferring on Arctic issues.
An important innovation of the Arctic Council is the participation of six indigenous peoples’ organizations that are recognized as “Permanent Participants”:
- Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC)
- Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC)
- Aleut International Association (AIA)
- Gwich'in Council International (GCI)
- Saami Council
- Russian Arctic Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON)
This unprecedented level of involvement by organizations representing indigenous peoples within an international body recognizes the critical role they play in Arctic affairs and the future of the Arctic.
The council has six supporting scientific and technical groups that meet year-round:
- Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP): Inventory and clean up of historic and present hazardous waste
- Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP): Assessment of environmental contaminants, climate change and other threats to the Arctic environment and human health.
- Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF): Monitoring and protection of Arctic species and biodiversity.
- Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR): Coordination of information about environmental emergencies related to oil and gas, nuclear radiation and natural disasters.
- Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME): Examination of legal and other mechanisms for marine protection as well as assessment of Arctic marine shipping.
- Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG): Evaluation of various aspects of life in the Arctic, including children and youth, health, living conditions, resource management, cultural preservation and ecological tourism.