Exploring the History of the Arctic Council
Explore the history of the Arctic Council through the milestones that have defined Arctic cooperation. This timeline highlights the Council's significant achievements and shows how its work has advanced knowledge, strengthened collaboration, and influenced policies in the Arctic and beyond.
Along the way, you'll hear personal reflections from people who have been part of this remarkable journey and discover why the Arctic Council continues to play a vital role in addressing the challenges and opportunities facing the Arctic today.
The AEPS was a non-binding agreement between the 8 Arctic States on environmental protection in the Arctic. In the AEPS, three Indigenous Peoples’ organizations- the Sámi Council, Inuit Circumpolar Council and Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North were admitted as Observer organizations. This initial cooperation framework laid the groundwork and directly led to the establishment of the Arctic Council.
Created to deliver sound science-based information for use in policy- and decision-making. Its assessment activities are internationally coordinated, subject to rigorous peer-review and make use of the most up-to-date results from both monitoring and research.
Established as a forum for scientists, Indigenous Peoples and conservation managers to exchange data and collaborate on biodiversity issues such as shared species and habitats and to collaborate for more effective research, sustainable utilization and conservation.
Established as a network for information on Arctic accidents and to provide a framework for future cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, with involvement of Indigenous Peoples and other Arctic residents in responding to threats of emergencies in the Arctic.
Created to address policy and non-emergency response measures related to the protection of the marine environment from land and sea-based activities.
The IPS was established to support the work of the Indigenous Peoples' organizations in the AEPS. Today, IPS supports all six Indigenous Peoples' organizations with Permanent Participant status in the Arctic Council. The IPS started its operations in December 1994.
On September 19, 1996 in Ottawa, Canada, the Arctic Council was established as a high-level intergovernmental forum to enhance cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States with full consultation and active involvement of Arctic Indigenous Peoples as Permanent Participants, and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues.
Recognizing the special relationship of Indigenous Peoples to the Arctic, the category of Permanent Participants was negotiated in the Arctic Council. It gave Indigenous Peoples' organizations full consultation rights in connection with the Council's negotiations and decisions. The category is unique to the Arctic Council and the first time that a category on this level was set up in an international organization. The first Permanent Participants were the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) – representing People in Alaska, Canada, Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat), and Chukotka; the Saami Council – representing People in Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden; and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON).
As stated in the Ottawa Declaration, Canada was the first Chair of the Arctic Council.
The first comprehensive circumpolar assessment of Arctic pollution. The report, published by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, identified chemicals recommended for international regulation, and has been referred to in literature as the “fundamental building block” of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which was being negotiated at the time.
The Aleut International Association (AIA) represents the Indigenous Peoples of Unangas/Unangan (Aleut) descent in the United States and the Russian Federation. AIA was formed to address environmental and cultural concerns of the extended Unangas/Unangan family whose well-being has been connected to the rich resources of the Bering Sea for millennia.
The goal of the Sustainable Development Working Group of the Arctic Council is to propose and adopt steps to be taken by the Arctic States to advance sustainable development in the Arctic. This includes pursuing opportunities to protect and enhance the environment and the economies, culture and health of Indigenous Peoples and Arctic communities.
Observer status in the Arctic Council is open to non-Arctic states, along with inter-governmental, inter-parliamentary, global, regional and non-governmental organizations that the Council determines can contribute to its work. Arctic Council Observers primarily contribute through their engagement at the level of Working Groups. The first group of Observers accredited were: Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom, Standing Committee of the Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (SCPAR), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), International Union for Circumpolar Health (IUCH), Northern Forum (NF), World Wide Fund for Nature, and Arctic Programme (WWF).
The 1st Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from Canada to the United States.
The Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC) is an International Treaty Organization focused on advancing the interests of Athabaskan Peoples in Alaska and Canada within the eight-nation Arctic Council and other international fora. At its founding, AAC represented approximately 32,000 Indigenous Peoples of Athabaskan descent across Alaska, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories.
Gwich’in Council International (GCI) represents 9,000 Gwich’in in the Northwest Territories (NWT), Yukon, and Alaska as a Permanent Participant in the Arctic Council.
The Arctic Council Action Plan to Eliminate Pollution of the Arctic, which led to the creation of the Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP), was adopted in 2000 and provided the first mandate for work on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and mercury.
In the Barrow Declaration, the Council noted that "releases of mercury have harmful effects on human health and may damage ecosystems of environmental and economic importance, including in the Arctic" and called on the UN to initiate a global assessment of mercury.
France, International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM), North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO), Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS), Association of World Reindeer Herders (AWRH), Circumpolar Conservation Union (CCU), and International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA) were accredited as Arctic Council Observers.
The 2nd Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from the United States to Finland.
The 2001 Stockholm Convention on POPs was catalyzed by Arctic Council research. POPs are chemicals of global concern. They can travel over long distances, are persistent in the environment, and are able to accumulate in ecosystems, leading to negative effects on human health and the environment.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), and University of the Arctic (UArctic) were accredited as Arctic Council Observers.
The 3rd Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from Finland to Iceland.
The first comprehensive multi-disciplinary assessment of the impacts of climate change in the Arctic. Nearly 300 scientists, experts, and representatives for Indigenous Peoples’ contributed, combining scientific research with the thoughtful and extensive inclusion of perspectives and Traditional Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples. The assessment helped push global awareness of Arctic climate change into mainstream policy discussion.
The Council released the first comprehensive circumpolar assessment on the welfare of Arctic peoples helping define the Arctic Council’s role as a knowledge-producing and agenda-setting body.
The first AMSP was endorsed by Arctic Council Ministers in November 2004 and set the Council's vision for the Arctic marine environment: "A healthy and productive Arctic Ocean and coasts that support environmental, economic and sociocultural values for current and future generations." An updated Arctic Marine Strategic Plan was published in 2015 to provide a framework to guide the Council’s actions to protect Arctic marine and coastal ecosystems and to promote sustainable development.
Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO), and Arctic Institute of North America (AINA) (as: Arctic Circumpolar Route) were accredited as Arctic Council Observers.
The 4th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from Iceland to the Russian Federation.
The CAFF Working Group officially launched the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) in September 2005. The CBMP is an international network of scientists, governments, Indigenous organizations and conservation groups working to harmonize and integrate efforts to monitor biodiversity.
Created to prevent and reduce pollution and environmental risks in the Arctic.
The first ECONOR report, led by the Sustainable Development Working Group, showed that rapid changes in the Arctic could have significant social, cultural and economic impacts on living conditions for the residents of the Arctic.
Spain was accredited as an Arctic Council Observer.
A temporary Arctic Council Secretariat was set up in Tromsø during the three Scandinavian Chairmanships: Norway, Kingdom of Denmark and Sweden. The Secretariat later became permanent in 2013 and remains in Tromsø today.
The 5th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from the Russian Federation to Norway.
The symposium was the first Arctic Council symposium focusing on the importance of the Arctic Indigenous languages and their role maintaining Indigenous cultures. It was also the first time that a significant Arctic Council meeting was organized and led by the Permanent Participants.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore, foreign ministers and climate change scientists met on 28 April 2009 in Tromsø, Norway to discuss the impacts of melting ice in the polar and mountain areas worldwide. The conference took place the day before the Arctic Council’s annual Ministerial meeting. A number of foreign ministers from states affected by melting ice and snow attended.
The Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group (PAME) developed recommendations to guide the Council's work on Arctic shipping. This assessment evaluated the future of Arctic shipping as sea ice declines and influenced global maritime safety discussions and regulations providing the first comprehensive, circumpolar assessment of Arctic marine transport trends, risks, and policy needs.
The Salekhard Declaration (2006) called for new partnerships between the Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP) and Indigenous Permanent Participants to identify and clean up local sources of pollution affecting communities. As a result a new Project Steering Group to address contaminants in Indigenous Peoples’ communities in remote areas of the Arctic was established in 2009. Later it was transformed into the IPCAP Expert Group.
The 6th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from Norway to the Kingdom of Denmark.
AMAP’s assessment of the impacts of climate change on Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA) was the first comprehensive assessment of the Arctic cryosphere and has significantly influenced the work of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It brought together the latest scientific knowledge about the changing state of the Arctic ‘cryosphere’, examining the impact to the Arctic region, the people living there, as well as the rest of the world.
The first legally binding agreement negotiated under the auspices of the Arctic Council coordinates search and rescue response in the region. Negotiated within the Arctic Council’s Task Force on Search and Rescue, the Agreement divided the Arctic into SAR zones among member states and marked a turning point where the Council moved from discussion and knowledge production to legally binding cooperation.
An Arctic Council report on short-lived climate forcers enhanced understanding black carbon, spurring additional Council work on black carbon and methane.
The Arctic Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Plan (2011) is an agreement among Arctic States to compile, harmonize and compare results from existing Arctic marine biodiversity and ecosystem monitoring efforts across the Arctic region.
The 7th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from the Kingdom of Denmark to Sweden.
The decision to create a permanent secretariat was taken at the Nuuk Ministerial Meeting in May 2011. During the Swedish Chairmanship, the institutional capacity of the Council was strengthened and moved this decision into practice. The Secretariat was set up in Tromsø, Norway, and became operational in 2013, providing administrative support, continuity, and institutional memory. The formal endorsement of the Secretariat occurred in the Kiruna Declaration in 2013.
A future vision for the Arctic was agreed upon by the Arctic States together with the six Indigenous Permanent Participants in the Arctic Council, in Kiruna, Sweden.
The second legally-binding agreement negotiated under the auspices of the Arctic Council, this agreement strengthens cooperation, coordination and mutual assistance among Arctic States on oil pollution preparedness and response. The agreement was developed through the work of the Task Force on Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response.
The first comprehensive, pan-Arctic synthesis of the state of biodiversity and ecosystem change across the entire Arctic region. It synthesized and assessed the status and trends of biodiversity in the Arctic, and it directly shaped national policy and monitoring priorities.
The Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response Working Group (EPPR) collaborated with other Arctic Council working groups, Permanent Participants, Observers, and relevant stakeholders, to develop recommendations and best practices in the prevention of marine oil pollution. This resulted in the Summary Report and Recommendations on the Prevention of Marine Oil Pollution in the Arctic which was shared at the Kiruna Ministerial Meeting in May of 2013.
AMAP’s 2004 assessment results significantly contributed to the decision by UNEP to establish its ‘mercury process that ultimately resulted in the global Minamata Convention on Mercury that entered into force in 2017. This global treaty aims to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury. To this day, the Minamata Convention has been signed by 128 countries.
Italian Republic, Japan, People's Republic of China, Republic of India, Republic of Korea, and Republic of Singapore were accredited as Arctic Council Observers.
“Development for the People of the North”. The 8th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from Sweden to Canada.
The Arctic Economic Council was established through the work of the Arctic Council’s Task Force to Facilitate the Creation of a Circumpolar Business Forum (TFCBF) the aim was to foster business development in the Arctic.
Over 70 invited guests from Across the Arctic celebrated the 20th anniversary of the IPS, which took place on 27 November 2014 in Copenhagen. This important milestone was commemorated with a special programme, including a workshop focused on the theme "building on Indigenous achievements in the Arctic Council".
The Circumpolar Mental Health Symposium in Iqaluit, Canada in March 2015 brought together a variety stakeholders to facilitate the knowledge transfer and sharing of evidence attained by researchers and communities. Starting in 2013 and continuing through 2025, the Sustainable Development Working Group facilitated international collaboration and connections between circumpolar communities working to prevent suicide and support the mental wellbeing of all Arctic youth and communities, including Arctic Indigenous Peoples who have the highest rates of suicide in the Arctic.
The Arctic Ministers adopted the Framework for Action on Enhanced Black Carbon and Methane Emissions, developed by the Council’s Task Force on Black Carbon and Methane (TFBCM), and subsequently established the Expert Group on Black Carbon and Methane to support its implementation.
The Arctic Council identified telecommunications infrastructure as a priority area and established the Task Force on Telecommunications Infrastructure in the Arctic (TFTIA). The aim was to develop a circumpolar telecommunications infrastructure assessment as a first step towards improving connectivity across the Arctic. This work was later continued by the Task Force on Improved Connectivity in the Arctic (TFICA).
The Arctic Ministers welcomed the Framework Plan for Cooperation on Prevention of Oil Pollution from Petroleum and Maritime Activities in the Marine Areas of the Arctic developed by the Council’s Task Force on Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Prevention (TFOPP). Focused on enhancing information exchange, the Framework Plan addresses issues such as developing measures for improved safety in petroleum activity and promoting standardization activities in the sector, strengthening regulatory cooperation among national jurisdictions, strengthening maritime navigation, traffic monitoring and management, improving navigational charts, and reducing risks associated with the use and transport of heavy fuel oil.
“One Arctic: Shared Opportunities, Challenges, and Responsibilities” The 9th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from Canada to the United States.
The foreign ministers of the Arctic States issued a Joint Statement highlighting the 20 years of cooperation and achievement that the Arctic Council has made possible.
The Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat moved from Copenhagen to Tromsø to be co-located with the Arctic Council Secretariat.
The third binding agreement of the Arctic Council was signed in Fairbanks, Alaska, in May 2017 to ensure scientists would have streamlined access to Arctic research areas, infrastructure, and data across all eight Arctic States. This agreement aimed to remove many of the practical barriers – such as equipment customs issues and data access restrictions – that previously hindered researchers from conducting the collaborative, circumpolar science necessary to understand rapid Arctic change. The agreement was developed through the work of the Arctic Council’s Task Force for Enhancing Scientific Cooperation in the Arctic.
Switzerland, International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), OSPAR Commission, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), West Nordic Council (WNC), and Oceana were accredited as Arctic Council Observers.
“Exploring Common Solutions” The 10th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from the United States to Finland.
Arranged by Finland, the week consisted of the 5th Arctic Council Environment Ministers’ meeting, the 2nd Arctic Biodiversity Congress and the first Arctic Youth Summit and declaration – introducing youth voices into Arctic cooperation. Major outcomes included speeding up actions to reduce black carbon emissions, strengthening cooperation to protect the Arctic marine environment and mainstreaming biodiversity objectives into policies and practices, and linking findings of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change into the work streams of the Arctic Council.
The Youth Summit was held for the first time at the Arctic Leaders’ Summit (ALS6) in Rovaniemi, Finland in 2019. It was a new, complementary addition organized to provide a dedicated summit for Indigenous youth and to promote youth engagement by giving rising Indigenous leaders from across the circumpolar Arctic an opportunity to learn about each other’s homelands, discuss issues of joint concern, and build their networks and skills in international cooperation. Primarily developed by Sámi youth organizations, the program allowed youth nominees to share dreams for their common Arctic future, prepare for ALS6 and compose a declaration presented during ALS6.
The Arctic Council received the 2019 Global Award of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA). IAIA is an international association of professionals involved in environmental and social impact assessments, which annually awards a leading individual or institution that has contributed to the practice of environmental assessment, management or policy on a global scale.
PAME's Arctic Shipping Status Report provides information on fuels used by ships in the Arctic in 2019 with a focus on heavy fuel oils (HFO). The Report shows that 10% of ships in Arctic waters as defined by the International Maritime Organization’s Polar Code burned HFO as fuel.
International Maritime Organization (IMO) was accredited as an Arctic Council Observer.
“Together towards a Sustainable Arctic” The 11th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from Finland to Iceland.
AMAP developed the first monitoring plan that looks for plastics in the entire ecosystem. It was the first time that all parts of an Arctic ecosystem were examined for traces of litter and microplastics – from the air to the bottom of the sea. This comprehensive monitoring leads to improved and better-informed decision making and policy action.
After the official declaration of the coronavirus pandemic, the Council quickly activated its extensive network of experts and developed a brief on Covid-19 in the Arctic. The brief provided insight into the complex and intricate ways the pandemic affects Arctic Peoples and communities – not only from a health perspective, but also in relation to social, economic and cultural systems..
Maintaining business (mostly) as usual through the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions was important. Building on the Arctic Council Working Groups’ tradition of intersessional teleconferences, Iceland, in close cooperation with the Arctic Council Secretariat and the other Arctic States, moved the Senior Arctic Official meetings and other events online. This ultimately delivered both a Ministerial declaration and the Arctic Council’s Strategic Plan 2021-2030, both negotiated in online sessions.
The Pan-Arctic Report on Gender Equality in the Arctic provided an overview of gender related issues in the region and filled some knowledge-gaps on the subject. This report stemmed from an initiative launched by Iceland in 2013 and has led ongoing work on this topic ever since.
The 2021 AMAP Arctic Climate Change Update established the now-famous finding that the Arctic has been warming approximately three times faster than the global average and became one of the most-cited Arctic climate findings of the decade.
The Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter in the Arctic (ML-RAP) was the first regional action plan of marine litter in the Arctic and was adopted at the 12th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Reykjavik in May 2021. It builds on PAME's 2019 Desktop Study on Marine Litter and Microplastics, which identified fisheries activities, shipping, and inadequate onshore waste management as key sources of Arctic marine litter, alongside significant knowledge gaps on distribution, pathways, and impacts.
This Strategic Plan was adopted in recognition of the Arctic Council’s 25th anniversary at the Council’s 12th Ministerial Meeting. It reflects the shared values and joint aspirations of the Arctic States and the Permanent Participants, to advance sustainable development, environmental protection, and good governance in the Arctic.
“Responsible Governance for a Sustainable Arctic” The 12th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from Iceland to the Russian Federation.
During its Chairmanship, the Russian Federation appointed a Special Envoy for Indigenous and Regional cooperation to guide and strengthen diplomatic channels between Indigenous Permanent Participants and the leadership of the Russian Chairmanship, and to ensure that Indigenous Peoples’ voices were heard throughout the Arctic Council. This was the first time an envoy was established in the Arctic Council to specifically address issues of importance during a Chairmanship.
Official Arctic Council meetings were temporarily paused.
The 13th meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairmanship from the Russian Federation to Norway.
With official Arctic Council meetings still on pause until further notice, the Norwegian Chairship initiated an innovative approach to continue in-person meetings between the Chairship, Permanent Participants and Working Groups. The meetings, which were replicated several times throughout Norway’s Chairship, made it possible to continue in-person collaboration when it wasn’t possible on a political level. This approach continues today and allows the Chairship to engage with all members of the Arctic Council on a regular basis.
The Wildland Fires Initiative sought to elevate Arctic wildland fires as an urgent climate change issue on the Arctic Council’s agenda, and beyond, to increase circumpolar collaboration, knowledge sharing, and partnership.
In February 2024, consensus was reached for the gradual resumption of official Working Group meetings in a virtual format, enabling project-level work to advance. The virtual meetings include all eight Arctic States and six Permanent Participants.
The Arctic Youth Conference (AYC) was developed as a platform for Arctic youth to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapidly changing Arctic region. Born out of the Chairship's commitment to youth empowerment, the AYC is designed to break away from tokenism, ensuring the involvement of Arctic youth in shaping and executing the conference.
The inaugural Arctic Emergency Management Conference 2025 (AEMC) was an international event that focused on a comprehensive approach to emergencies in the Arctic. Held in Bodø, Norway, the conference brought together more than 200 participants in person and over 130 online attendees from across the Arctic and beyond. The event facilitated discussions, information exchange, and collaboration on emergency management in the Arctic, emphasizing the importance of interconnectedness in emergency prevention, preparedness, and response.
The 14th meeting of the Arctic Council transitioned the Chairship from Norway to the Kingdom of Denmark.
The conference emphasized implications for biodiversity and migrating species, climate change impacts, pollutant transport and the movement of species between regions, including invasive species to the High Arctic. The conference took place alongside the UArctic Congress 2026 held in the Faroe Islands.
This year the Arctic Council marks 30 years of cooperation. The work that is done today builds on long-standing foundations.