By Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey V. Lavrov, and Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas G. Støre

Arctic Council - ten years of cooperation for the benefit of the North

Dagbladet, Oslo, 29 October 2006

Translation from the Norwegian

Ten years after its establishment, the Arctic Council, which is made up of eight Arctic States – Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the USA, is developing effectively and dynamically. The Arctic Council is a forum for cooperation on the whole range of sustainable development issues, from economy and the environment to meeting the social needs of people living in the north. Russia will hand over the chair to Norway at the Ministerial Session on 25-26 October in Salekhard.

Over the past decades we have witnessed how the Arctic region has been transformed from a Cold War zone of confrontation into an arena for multilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas. Cooperation has become an important factor in efforts to strengthen international stability and security, and it provides a valuable basis for finding solutions to the problems facing the far north of our planet.

For Russia and Norway, the north, the Arctic region is not just a geographical concept. The Arctic region offers extensive opportunities. It has vast natural resources, including hydrocarbons and fish. These are resources that the rest of the world badly needs. But they must be exploited with care. The Arctic fauna and flora must be protected, for disturbances to this vulnerable environment will affect the rest of the world. And, of course, the world community has a special responsibility to safeguard the more than 40 indigenous peoples living in the north, and their languages, cultures and unique traditions that have developed from living in extreme conditions.

The key challenges we are facing in the Arctic today have one thing in common – they are transboundary. They can only be met only through close international cooperation. And this is the role of the Arctic Council, the activities of which are more important today than ever before.

Russia had all this in mind when it took over the chair of the Arctic Council in 2004. It has seen the chairmanship as an opportunity to initiate positive developments and implement important activities for the benefit both of the Russian parts of the Arctic and of all the Arctic states.

Sustainable development has been set as a priority task and this, as we know, means finding the right balance between the considerations of the environment, the economy and social development. The people here should live in comfortable conditions, enjoy a pollution-free environment, and have access to modern education, medical care and the full range of social services.

With this in view, the activities of the Council chair have been aimed at the implementation of the Sustainable Development Action Plan, including a wide range of economic, social and environmental projects. Meanwhile the Russian Federation has launched its National Plan of Action for Protecting Marine Environment from Anthropogenic Pollution. A number of multilateral projects on eliminating persistent chemical pollutants have been implemented in cooperation with indigenous organisations. Funding has been provided for projects to promote the health of people living in the Arctic, including tele-medicine and the establishment of a specialist medical centre. Closer cooperation has been established on the prevention and management of man-made disasters and radiological environment monitoring. Russia has initiated a new dimension in the Council’s activities – in the field of culture, with focus on protecting the culture of indigenous peoples of the north. It was agreed that the Council should develop an energy dimension, with a view to establishing cooperation in sustainable oil and gas development.

The Arctic Council is expressing its concern about predicted climate change as well as the climate change that is already clearly visible. Climate change is a serious threat to life all over the world, but changes will affect the Arctic region first. The findings of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a major study prepared at the Council’s request, have been duly taken into account by Russia during its chairmanship and have been reflected in the work of all its six working groups.

In general, we believe, a lot has been done. Norway will have a good starting point when it takes over the chairmanship. The focus on a broad range of sustainable development and climate issues will continue. Norway will give priority to presenting a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the present climate effects and future challenges the Arctic countries face in the region. We need more data to prepare ourselves for the impact of climate change in the Arctic and to understand how climate change in the Arctic affects other regions of the world.

Sustainable use and ecosystem-based management of natural resources will be another priority for the Norwegian chairmanship. The principle of ecosystem-based management is that all human activities – such as fishing, transport and oil and gas development – must be managed in such a way that ecosystems are not harmed. This will ensure long term sustainable economic development and harmony between different sectors. Norway will base activities on its management plan for the Barents Sea–Lofoten area and the experience of other Arctic countries. Denmark and then Sweden will follow on from Norway as chair of the Council. The three countries have agreed to coordinate their programmes for the 2006-2012 period.

The Arctic Council can now look back on its first 10 years. It has already implemented a number of projects and outlined new ones that give us grounds for optimism about the future prospects of this cooperation. Russia and Norway are looking beyond the already tested lines of cooperation towards new promising areas of cooperation that are likely to arise in the near future. Nevertheless the Council’s efforts will continue to be firmly rooted in practical projects that benefit the people living in the polar regions.

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[Published in Politiken (Denmark), Hufvudstadsbladet (Finland) and Izvestia (Russia) among other newspapers].