News Release: Welcome to the Ninth Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting

From Iqaluit to Iqaluit: Welcome to the Ninth Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting
April 21, 2015 –Tromsø, Norway – Arctic Council Secretariat

The ninth Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council will take place in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada from April 24-25, 2015. This meeting will mark the end of Canada’s Arctic Council Chairmanship (2013-2015) and the start of the US Chairmanship (2015 – 2017).

Ministers of the eight Arctic states and Leaders of the six Permanent Participant organizations of the Arctic Council will meet at the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut on Friday, April 24. The meeting will be chaired by the Hon. Leona Aglukkaq, Canada’s Minister for the Arctic Council.

The meeting will include a presentation by Minister Aglukkaq on the achievements of the Council under Canada’s Chairmanship, statements by the eight Arctic state Ministers and six Indigenous Permanent Participant Leaders, and an overview by the incoming Arctic Council Chair, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, of the U.S. Chairmanship program.

Ministers will adopt the 2015 Iqaluit Declaration, which highlights the accomplishments of the past two years and sets the stage for the upcoming U.S. Chairmanship.

The meeting will be followed by a press conference at the Cadet Hall in Iqaluit.

The Ministerial meeting and press conference will be live-streamed in English on the Arctic Council website, and in English and French on the Government of Canada website.

The theme during Canada’s Arctic Council Chairmanship was “Development for the People of the North”. Key accomplishments include:

• the establishment of the Arctic Economic Council to promote responsible economic development in the region;
• recommendations to use traditional and local knowledge more consistently in the work of the Arctic Council;
  • a comprehensive report identifying best practices to support mental wellness across Arctic communities;
  • an eight-year Action Plan to implement the recommendations of the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment and a work plan to improve the status of priority species of Arctic breeding birds along their migratory routes;
  • updated scientific assessments on short-lived climate pollutions, and a framework for action to reduce black carbon and methane emissions; and
  • an action plan to prevent marine oil pollution in the Arctic.