Norway Takes the Helm: New Arctic Council Engagements

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Norway has been elected as the Chair of the Arctic Council for the 2023-2025 term, and the release of the ‘Norway's Chairmanship Arctic Council 2023-2025’ report offers hope for stability and constructive cooperation within the Council. The report outlines a plan of action with a focus on four key priority areas: Oceans, Climate and Environment, Sustainable Economic Development, and People in the North, with a long-term approach aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the Arctic region. This heralds headway in key areas of research, an activity that has slowed down considerably in the past two years.

The Arctic Council is a governing body that has been established to promote cooperation among States lying in the Arctic Region and indigenous communities.The importance of the platform has gained greater significance lately due to the increasing threats to the Arctic environment. A recent IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC), states that between 1979 and 2018, Arctic sea ice extent has decreased for all months of the year (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2019). This makes the situation grave enough for the Council to orient towards the goals of sustainable development, environmental protection and development of indigenous communities.

Many scientific reports highlight that any change in the cryosphere impacts all ecosystems and biodiversity all around the world in the form of sea level rise and changes in global climate and weather patterns. For instance, a joint study by Indian and Norwegian scientists A possible relation between Arctic sea ice and late season Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall extremes emphasises that there is a linkage between reduction in sea ice in the Barents-Kara Sea and extreme rainfall patterns in the latter half of Indian monsoon (The Hindu, 2022). Apart from scientific studies and efforts to bring sustainability in the region, Norway is now going to Chair the Arctic Council starting from May 2023. It has released the Report charting out its vision for the Arctic Council for  upcoming tenure from 2023-2025.

Four Pillars of the Action Plan of Norway

Though established in 1996 and despite efforts to streamline the governance structure, cooperation and consensus building in the Arctic Council still faces challenges. The report released by Norway on March 28, 2023 titled Norway’s Chairship Arctic Council 2023-2025 brings a ray of hope outlining the overall objective to bring stability and constructive cooperation (Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2023). Based on the first Arctic Council Strategic Plan of 2021, Norway will strengthen the cause and support the activities of its six working groups and other groups of the Council. Apart from this the plan of action delineated in the report focuses on four priority areas namely, Oceans, Climate and Environment, Sustainable Economic Development, and People in the North with the long term approach to ensure sustainability in the Arctic region.

Norway’s approach towards the first priority area, ‘management of oceans’ includes development of Digital Environmental Atlas, protection of species dependent on ice, organisation of an international conference for the relevant focus area with an ecosystem approach; development of Arctic observation systems, action towards combating marine litter, cooperation on emergency preparedness and safe shipping in the Arctic.

Focusing on the third priority area ‘Climate and Environment’ is very crucial looking at the emerging trends in rise in global temperatures and its disastrous impending consequences. By focusing on enhancement of the knowledge relating to the Arctic climate and environment, improving the access to and use of research data, cooperation on conservation of biodiversity of the Arctic; challenges of black carbon and methane, Norway promises the support of Arctic Council for international climate action aligning with the targets of the Paris Agreement.

Emphasis on the third priority area ‘sustainable economic development’ highlights the need to focus on social development in the Arctic Region. The vision towards this goal entails the components such as green transition, sustainability of shipping, Arctic food systems and blue economy. The permafrost thawing, melting of sea ice and other dynamic changes in the Region can reveal new resources adding to the already existing rich resource bases. Focus on this area will lead to the sustainable utilisation of resources and their preservation, keeping in mind the rights of traditional communities. To realise this vision, Norway will update the report The Economy of the North along with other initiatives.

The fourth priority area ‘People in the North’, places people at the centre in the discourse of bringing resilience against climate change. It focuses upon developing frameworks for bettering the livelihood conditions, settlement patterns and ensuring resilient, diverse and inclusive communities in the Arctic. Norway will focus upon the young people, gender equality, health cooperation, medical preparedness, cooperation in the cultural field, amongst others.

Conclusion

Experts opine that it is indeed fortunate for the Council to have Norway take over this summer, as there is no country in the region better equipped to handle the present conundrum (Reuters, 2023). The report paves the way towards areas of priority. Norway's Chairmanship of the Arctic Council can be seen as a vision grounded in the principles of scientific management of activities in the Arctic Region while keeping the local and traditional knowledge systems as sources of inspiration to ensure a sustainable future for the Arctic and effective governance of the Arctic Council.

References

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2019). Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere.

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (2023). Norway's Chairship Arctic Council 2023-2025. Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Hindu. (2022). Explained | The warming of Arctic Ocean and its impact on India. https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/explained-what-is-causing-arctic-warming-should-india-be-worried/article65778586.ece

Reuters. (2023). Arctic Council under pressure as Norway readies for Russian handoff. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/arctic-council-under-pressure-norway-readies-russian-handoff-2023-03-28/)

Norway Chairship: Arctic Council 2023-2025 - The Full Report


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