Traditional Indigenous Khanty camp near Salekhard, Russian Federation.
Traditional Indigenous Khanty camp near Salekhard, Russian Federation.
© Rosa-Máren Magga

Arctic Council

The leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation in the Arctic.

Who we are

The Arctic Council is pausing all official meetings of the Council and its subsidiary bodies until further notice.

Who we are

Expert groups and task forces carry out additional work.

Where we focus

How we work

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Agreements and cooperation

The establishment of the Arctic Council was considered an important milestone enhancing cooperation in the circumpolar North. In the Ottawa Declaration, the eight Arctic States established the Council as a high-level forum to provide means for promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States – including the full consultation and full involvement of Arctic Indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants.

Credit: Freepik/flaticon
Data and knowledge

At any given time the Council’s subsidiary bodies – the Working and Expert Groups – are engaged in close to 100 projects and initiatives.

Arctic monitoring. Icon: Freepik/Flaticon
Monitoring

As the Arctic continues to experience a period of intense and accelerating change it has become increasingly important to have better information on the status and trends of the Arctic environment.

Credit: Freepik/Flaticon
Assessments

Through the ever-growing body of assessments produced by its six Working Groups, the Arctic Council serves as knowledge broker and global advocate for Arctic topics. The Working Groups’ assessments have been instrumental in bringing Arctic issues to a global arena through policy recommendations and international cooperation.

Credit: Freepik/Flaticon
Recommendations

The strong knowledge base produced by the Arctic Council’s Working Groups and other subsidiary bodies feeds into recommendations for informed decision-making.

News and stories

A new format to strengthen Arctic wildland fire cooperation

The Arctic Wildland Fire Sharing Circle brought together diverse voices to share projects, tools and research to start new conversations and build networks to tackle Arct...
01 Mar 2022

Assessing the state of biodiversity in Arctic rivers and lakes

The freshwater experts of the Arctic Council’s Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Group (CAFF) have just released the largest compilation and assessment of Ar...
10 Feb 2022

Introducing the new SDWG Chair, Abidat Magomedova

Abidat Magomedova is the new Chair of the Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG). She serves as Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation and T...
14 Dec 2021
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