News Releases

Anders Turesson is the new Chair of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP). He works at the Swedish Ministry of Environment. While chairing the Arctic Council Working Group, he will also continue to work on climate change related issue back in Stockholm. Get to know Anders and learn more about his interests in and ambitions for AMAP.

On May 7, Finland will host the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

There is more to connectivity than mobile phone coverage. Access to broadband for example facilitates e-learning for children and adults in remote communities and enables the development of digital health and social services. The Finnish Chairmanship program speaks of well-functioning communication networks and services as a lifeline for human activities and as a prerequisite for economic development in the Arctic.

One of the Finnish priority areas that Ambassador Aleksi Härkönen, Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials, emphasizes as a success, is meteorological cooperation. “Already now we could say that we have achieved a breakthrough when the WMO and national meteorological institutes decided to actively contribute to meteorological cooperation in the Arctic.” In its Chairmanship program, Finland emphasized the need for enhancing both meteorological and oceanographic cooperation across the Arctic States. This would improve public safety, benefit international shipping and air traffic, and enhance Arctic climate science.

Environmental protection lies at the core of the Arctic Council – ever since its establishment. In the Council’s founding document, the Ottawa declaration, the eight Arctic States affirmed their commitment to protect the Arctic environment and healthy ecosystems, to maintain Arctic biodiversity, to conserve and enable a sustainable use of natural resources.

Senior Arctic Officials approve deliverables for the upcoming Ministerial meeting.

Fourth Senior Arctic Officials’ meeting during Finland’s Chairmanship of the Arctic Council sums up achievements of the past two years.

The Arctic Council together with Finland hosted an official side event "Curbing black carbon emissions for health and Arctic climate benefits" at COP24 in Katowice, Poland, Monday 10 December, 18:30 – 20:00.

At the meeting just concluded in Rovaniemi, Finland, the Arctic Council focused its discussions on Arctic biodiversity and received updates from all the Council’s subsidiary bodies on their ongoing work.

On 1-2 November 2018, the Arctic Council will gather in Rovaniemi, Finland for the third Senior Arctic Officials’ meeting held during the Chairmanship of Finland (2017-2019).

The Arctic Environment Ministers’ meeting held in Rovaniemi 11-12 October ended with discussions about cooperation in addressing climate change, protecting biodiversity and preventing pollution in the Arctic region. The two-day meeting brought together ministers and high-level representatives from the eight Arctic Council States and from six Permanent Participants representing the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. The Observer countries and organizations of the Arctic Council had also been invited.

The Finnish Chairmanship is organizing an Arctic Environment Ministers’ meeting (AEMM) in Rovaniemi, Finland, 11-12 October 2018. The meeting will gather the Ministers of the Environment of the eight Arctic States, six indigenous Permanent Participant organizations, Arctic Council’s six Working Groups, as well as Arctic Council Observers. The meeting will be chaired by Mr. Kimmo Tiilikainen, Minister of the Environment, Energy and Housing of Finland.

The Arctic Resilience Forum held in Rovaniemi, Finland, 10-11 September gathered around 100 Arctic experts, policymakers, and various key stakeholders. The purpose of the event was to strengthen cooperation on work related to resilience to the impacts of climate change and to present and discuss resilience best-practices from Arctic Council Working Groups’ and other stakeholder’s projects.

The Arctic Resilience Forum, an international conference organised by Finland’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Rovaniemi on 10–11 September 2018, seeks to develop the resilience of the Arctic region to climate change.

In a panel held at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York, several speakers highlighted the unique model of the Arctic Council in supporting science diplomacy, bringing governments, indigenous peoples, and the scientific community together in support of sustainable development in the region.

The Arctic Council is proud to host a Ministerial side event at the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2018, taking place in New York.

The Arctic Council marks a special occasion on 23 May 2018 as the "Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation," signed in May 2017, enters into force.

At the meeting just concluded in Levi, Finland, the Arctic Council addressed the major themes of meteorological cooperation and improvement of telecommunications in the region.

On 22-23 March 2018, the Arctic Council will gather in Levi, Finland for the second Senior Arctic Officials’ meeting held during the Chairmanship of Finland (2017-2019).

A table-top exercise of the 2013 Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic will be run in Oulu, Finland, on 7 March 2018. The exercise will test cooperation and coordination processes in the event of a real-world marine oil incident.