New Directions for the Arctic Council

1. New Directions for the Arctic Council Julia Gourley U.S. Senior Arctic Official Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs U.S. Department of State Presentation to the Institute of the North’s 2011 Week of the Arctic August 18, 2011

2. The Arctic Council • Founded 1996 • Premier high-level diplomatic forum for international cooperation in the Arctic • Eight Member States • Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, United States • Six Permanent Participants • Aleut International Association • Arctic Athabaskan Council • Gwich’in Council International • Inuit Circumpolar Council • Saami Council • Russian Association of Indigenous People of the North • Six working groups, three task forces, 1expert group Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

3. 7th Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council • Arctic Council meets every 2 years at the level of Foreign Ministers • This Ministerial marked the end of the Danish and start of the Swedish Chairmanships • Meeting took place in Nuuk, Nuuk, Greenland • Sec. Clinton, Sec. Salazar, Senator Murkowski, Lt. Gov. Treadwell on U.S. Delegation Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

4. Institutional Changes • Standing Secretariat approved • Tromsø, Norway • To begin operations spring 2013 • Improved operational continuity • Improved institutional memory • Enhanced Russian translation • Clear criteria for observers • Existing observers continue • Pending observers to re-apply • China, European Commission, Italy, Japan, Rep. of Korea • 3 NGOs Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

5. Search and Rescue (SAR) • Agreement on Cooperation in Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic • First legally-binding agreement negotiated under auspices of the Arctic Council • U.S.-Russia co-chair Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

6. SAR Agreement Highlights • Binding agreement on all Parties to provide appropriate assistance in the event of a SAR incident • First agreement on any topic ever negotiated among the 8 Arctic nations • Highly collaborative spirit, all governments committed to positive outcome • 2,801,911 sq. miles of aeronautical and maritime SAR coverage • Signed at AC Ministerial Meeting in Nuuk, Greenland, May 12, 2011 Sec. Clinton signs SAR Agreement at Arctic Council meeting in Nuuk, Greenland, Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

7. SAR Agreement - continued • Based on 1979 IMO Maritime SAR Convention • Based on 1949 International Civil Aviation Convention (ICAO) – Annex 12 (SAR) • Art 3(3): Each Party shall promote the establishment, operation and maintenance of an adequate and effective SAR capability within its area • Art 7(3)(b): If a…Party receives information that any person is, or appears to be, in distress, that Party shall take urgent steps to ensure that the necessary assistance is provided • Art 7(3)(f): Parties shall ensure that assistance be provided to any person in distress. They shall do so regardless of the nationality or status of such a person or the circumstances in which that person is found • Art 9: generally on promoting cooperation among the Parties on SAR in the Arctic. Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

8. SWIPA – The Arctic Council’s Cryosphere Assessment • Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA) released • http://www.amap.no/swipa/ • Some big unanswered questions: • What will happen to Arctic Ocean ecosystems as freshwater is added? • How quickly could Greenland Ice Sheet melt? • How will Arctic cryospheric change affect the global climate? • How will changes affect Arctic societies? Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

9. Short-Lived Climate Forcers • Opportunity to take rapid action to slow Arctic warming • U.S.-Norway co-led task force • Progress Report: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/164926.pdf • Focused on black carbon • Recommended mitigation options: • Transportation, esp. diesel engines • Residential heating • Open burning • Shipping Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

10. Arctic Biodiversity Trends • Arctic Biodiversity Trends 2010 • Full report available at: http://www.caff.is/ • Key Findings: • Unique Arctic habitats disappearing • Majority of species stable or increasing, but some declining • Long-term observations required • Climate change is most significant stressor, but contaminants, habitat fragmentation, industrial development, and unsustainable harvest levels are having an impact Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

11. Ongoing Work • Human Health Experts Group • SLCF TF work on black carbon, methane and tropospheric ozone • Follow-up activities pursuant to the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) • Arctic Biodiversity Assessment due May 2013 • Health, Safety and Environmental Management and the Use of Best Operating Practices for Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling – follow up on Offshore Oil and Gas Guidelines Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

12. New Initiatives • Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Task Force • U.S. & Russia to co-lead • Enhanced Oil Spill Prevention work • Ecosystem-Based Management • U.S. & Iceland to co-lead • Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks • Arctic Council to chair and IASC to vice-chair • Arctic Ocean Acidification • Arctic Human Development Report II (pending approval) • Food Security and access to good quality water (details to come from Sweden and ICC) Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

13. Initiatives under Consideration • Arctic Change Assessment • Comprehensive, cross-cutting synthesis looking at changes affecting Arctic • Arctic Resilience Project • Examining how to help communities and ecosystems be more resilient to changes affecting the Arctic • Arctic Maritime and Aviation Transportation Infrastructure Initiative • International Polar Decade Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

14. Toward the next U.S. Chairmanship • Sweden 2011-2013 • Canada 2013-2015 • United States 2015-2017 Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State

15. QUESTIONS? Julia Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State