Arctic Council

The Arctic Council was established on 19 September 1996, when representatives of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States signed the Ottawa Declaration. It followed the 1991 Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy. The Council promotes cooperation, coordination and interaction on common Arctic concerns, particularly environmental protection and sustainable development.

The eight Arctic States are the Council's members and hold the decision-making authority. Six organizations representing Arctic Indigenous Peoples participate as Permanent Participants, a distinctive arrangement intended to enable their active involvement. Other Indigenous organizations, Arctic inhabitants and experts contribute to Council work. Observer status is open to non-Arctic states and various intergovernmental, interparliamentary and non-governmental organizations accepted by the Council; observers contribute primarily through Working Groups, but do not share the member states' decision rights.

Council decisions and statements require consensus of the eight Arctic States, with the involvement of Permanent Participants. Much of the practical work is carried out by six Working Groups, which produce scientific assessments, develop knowledge and recommendations, and address topics ranging from pollution and biodiversity to emergency preparedness and sustainable development. The Council's chairmanship rotates among the Arctic States, generally on a two-year cycle.

The Arctic Council is a forum, not an operational agency. It does not itself implement or enforce its guidelines, assessments or recommendations; responsibility for implementation rests with states or other relevant bodies. Its projects are sponsored by one or more Arctic States, sometimes with support from other entities, rather than funded through a general Council programming budget. The Ottawa Declaration explicitly excludes military security from the Council's mandate.

The Council's work includes environmental, ecological and social assessments intended to inform decisions. It has also provided a venue for negotiations among the Arctic States that produced legally binding agreements on search and rescue cooperation, marine oil-pollution preparedness and response, and scientific cooperation. These treaties are agreements among states; the Council itself does not act as an enforcement authority.