The Gordon Foundation, Toronto
22 April, 2015
10,000 people in 8 nations with Arctic territory surveyed;
Results released on eve of Arctic Council meeting in Nunavut;
Secretary of State John Kerry scheduled to participate as US succeeds Canada into Arctic Council chair
Differing levels of trust, geopolitical tension, and a general lack of public awareness of Arctic issues provide the backdrop for this week’s meeting of high level representatives of the eight Arctic states in Iqaluit, Nunavut.
A survey of 10,000 respondents in countries with Arctic territory reveals major differences of opinion on issues ranging from Arctic co-operation with Russia to the threat of military conflict north of the 60th parallel, to whether the Northwest Passage is a Canadian or international waterway.
It also shows that the Arctic Council, a forum for the eight nations to manage mutual Arctic concerns and interests, is only vaguely known, if at all, among citizens in the countries surveyed. Governments, on the other hand -including non-Arctic states-and other stakeholders, are according the Council increasing political priority given the North’s vast natural resources, centrality to global climate change, and potential as a far shorter route for shipping goods between the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Such is the importance of the Council to the United States, for example, that Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to attend meetings in Iqaluit, capital of Canada’s Nunavut Territory, on April 24, 2015. During these meetings, the U.S. will accept from Canada the Council chair for a two-year term.
Commissioned by the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program based in Canada and the Institute of the North in Alaska, and conducted by EKOS Research Associates, the polling uses many of the same questions used in their 2010 survey, revealing how public opinion has changed over the last five years.
Citizens acknowledge in this survey the reality of rising geopolitical tensions and their implications for the Arctic. While they include a strengthened military as one response, the favoured option is diplomatic and co-operative approaches. This is evident in a specific question on how best to deal with Russia and in general, support for the “softer” approaches of negotiation and co-operation are endorsed particularly in the Nordic countries.
It also sheds light on divides between Canadians living in Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut and their northern American neighbours in Alaska. It highlights the differences between the northern and southern citizens of Canada and the U.S.
Tables of the complete survey are available online at http://bit.
Among highlights:
- Conflict threat: Majorities in Russia (50%), Iceland (58%) and Finland (51%) believe the threat of military conflict in the Arctic has increased in the past year, a view shared by significant proportions of citizens of other countries with Arctic territory: the U.S. (South 24%, Alaska 34%), Canada (South 36%, North 30%), Norway (35%), Sweden (33%) and Denmark (29%).
- Co-operation with Russia: Only 5% of Russians believe that their country should withdraw from international co-operation in the Arctic. This view is supported in most of the Arctic Council nations where only minorities are supportive of excluding Russia from co-operative Arctic forums: Canada South (38%), Canada North (36%), Alaska (37%), U.S. South (32%), Denmark (31%), Finland (22%), Norway (19%). Sweden and Iceland (44% and 43%, respectively) were most likely to agree that Russia should “withdraw from international co-operation arrangements like the Arctic Council in light of recent developments in Ukraine.”
- Strengthening military in the North: Support has dipped in Canada for strengthening the nation’s military presence in the North “to protect against international threats.” Agreed in Canada North (45%) and Canada South (49%, down from 60%). Alaska (52%) and U.S. South (45%).
- Protecting northern interests: Given the statement: “The best way to protect Canada’s/America’s interests in the Arctic is to have Canadians/Americans living there,” as in 2010 a majority agreed in both Canada North (78%) and South (69%). In Alaska, 51% agreed, as did 48% of those in the U.S. South.
- Approach to border disputes: Despite real concern about security tensions in the Arctic, it is remarkable that when dealing with dispute resolution, support for a “firm line” is only endorsed by a minority of respondents in all countries and that support for the harder approach has gone down – not up – over the past five years. Even in Russia where 43% support a firm line, 28% support negotiations. In all other countries surveyed there was more support for negotiation than pursuing a firm line: Canada North (47%), Canada South (41%), Alaska (39%), U.S. South (34%), Denmark (31%), Finland (28%), Iceland (29%), Norway (32%) and Sweden (28%).
- Northwest Passage: A vast majority (71%) in Canada North say the Northwest Passage is within Canadian waters, a view shared by a plurality in Canada South (45%). Just 22% of Alaskans and 14% of other Americans, however, and very small minorities in Norway (11%), Sweden (9%), Russia (8%), Finland (7%), Iceland (6%) and Denmark (6%) express that view.In Russia, a majority (51%) consider the Northwest Passage an international waterway, a view widely shared in Alaska (41%) and Denmark (40%). Elsewhere: Finland (35%), Norway (34%), U.S. South (33%), Sweden (30%), Iceland (28%), Canada North (15%) and Canada South (9%).
- Arctic Council awareness: Awareness of the Arctic Council is strongest in Iceland (49% recall it clearly), followed by Canada North (32%), Denmark (28%), Alaska (15%), U.S. South (12%), Russia (12%), Norway (12%), Sweden (11%), Canada South (8%) and Finland (8%).
- Arctic Council, indigenous representation: Among northerners of the U.S. and Canada, awareness of the Council’s inclusion of indigenous representation is substantial: Nunavut (52%), Northwest Territories and Yukon (44%), and Alaska (41%).
- Arctic Council, awareness of Canadian chair: Among Canadians, awareness that Canada has been the chair of the Arctic Council is strongest in Nunavut (45%), followed by the NWT (41%), Yukon (35%) and Canada South (10%).
- Arctic Council, military mandate: Respondents were largely in favour of the Arctic Council mandate being expanded to include military security, though the proportion holding that view is declining in many places. A majority of respondents in Russia agreed (79%, largely unchanged from 2010), Finland (71%, up from 39% in 2010), Denmark (63%, up from 48% in 2010), Canada North (57%, largely unchanged from 2010), Canada South (55%, down from 62% in 2010), Alaska (56%) and Sweden (53%, possibly down from 61% in 2010). Elsewhere, that is the view of substantial minorities in Iceland (44%, unchanged from 2010), and Norway (46%, largely unchanged from 2010), while the U.S. South was evenly divided (50%).
- Arctic Council, non-Arctic states: Asked if countries without far northern territory should “have a say in Arctic affairs,” only in Finland did a majority of respondents agree (63%). Those who agreed elsewhere: Alaska (49%), Sweden (47%), Russia (46%), Iceland (42%), Canada North (32%), Denmark (31%), Norway (31%), the U.S. South (29%) and Canada South (26%).
- Nuclear weapons-free: Except in Alaska, large majorities of people say the U.S. and Russia should remove their nuclear weapons and the Arctic designated a nuclear weapons-free zone like Antarctica. Results: Sweden (90%), Finland and Iceland (88%), Norway and Denmark (83%), Canada South (81%), Canada North (79%), Russia (68%), U.S. South (67%), Alaska (46%).
Says Nils Andreassen, Executive Director, Institute of the North: “We need this polling data to know where we can make a difference and improve awareness of issues, address concerns, and develop a more sophisticated and substantive outreach and public education campaign around the Arctic Council and the issues with which it deals.”
“During the U.S. Chairmanship of the Arctic Council, we can leverage that leadership role into real gains for Alaskans and people across the North,” says Andreassen.
Adds Arctic issues expert Sara French, Senior Policy Analyst at The Gordon Foundation: “This is a one of a kind study that allows us to understand more clearly public attitudes on a wide variety of Arctic issues in order to help decision makers make more informed public policy choices that are reflective of the views of Canadians and Americans who call the Arctic home.”
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Our mission is to promote innovative public policies for the North and in fresh water management based on our values of independent thought, protecting the environment, and full participation of indigenous people in the decisions that affect their well-being.
Our mission is vital to Alaska’s role as a key stakeholder in policy affecting the Arctic. We stand at a pivotal place where ideas and connections matter -across the state and on a global scale.
Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program
A partnership between the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, and The Gordon Foundation, the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program is dedicated to studying and promoting four overarching areas of concern: Emergency Preparedness in the Arctic; Arctic peoples and security; The Arctic Council; Public opinion in and about the North. The Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program undertakes original research and hosts interactive gatherings to achieve its vision.
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News release in full, click here
Example coverage, by
Reuters (via Daily Mail, UK), “Arctic nations want cooperation with Russia, despite Ukraine-poll,” click here; via Yahoo! News Canada, click here
Agencia EFE, Spain, “Aumenta entre habitantes del Ártico sensación de amenaza de conflicto bélico,” click here
Talk Radio News Service, USA, “Arctic Council Populations Want Nuclear Weapon-Free Region,” click here
Nunatsiaq News, Canada, “International poll finds Arctic Council poorly known even in northern Canada,” click here
Forskning, Norway, “Klart ja til arktisk samarbeid med Russland,” click here
Baltic News Service, click here
Coverage summary in full, click here
]]>Response capacity in Arctic, already stretched, faces fast-growing challenges as North develops: Report
Inadequate risk assessment, planning and training are among the gaps in many parts of Canada’s Arctic, compounding the challenges of brutal weather, vast distances, difficult transportation and spotty communications and exposing the region’s residents to the ever increasing risks of natural and man-made disasters and emergencies, according to a major new report released today.
In the report experts identify seven key recommendations and set priorities for emergency preparedness, synthesized from a series of hearings in each of Canada’s three northern territories, concluded by a national roundtable hosted by the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program.
The report details emergency management capacities in the Arctic today and its future needs in light of rapidly expanding international interest in the region’s natural resources, as a shipping corridor and other purposes. It examines the overall emergency management and the related policy environment in Canada, and includes search and rescue (SAR).
“Despite the best efforts of volunteers, who form the backbone of emergency response in the North, there are still deficiencies in the system caused by a lack of tools, plans, and training that are putting lives at risk. This risk and severity of emergencies will only increase with climate change and intensified activity in the region,” says Sara French, director of the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security program, a collaboration between the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.
“Floods, forest fires, avalanches, earthquakes, pandemics-the list of emergency concerns is long. We hope this report helps to guide preparations for adequate response ability in Canada’s North.”
In the North, major emergency responses are typically launched from Halifax, Trenton or Victoria -five or six hours away by plane in good weather.
Processes used to trigger federal assistance vary between jurisdictions, creating complication, and responders from the south are often unfamiliar with the area and general circumstances with which they are dealing.
The new report builds on one last fall on federal search and rescue activities prepared by the federal Auditor General’s Office, which underlined a need to invest in new equipment, improve access to training and accreditation of SAR staff, update the Search and Rescue Mission Management System and complete tendering on fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft.
According to the new report, the federal and public dialogue on emergency management has tended to emphasize the search for and rescue of visitors to the region, as opposed to the emergency response needs more generally of northern residents. “This has created the perception among many in the North that they are taking a backseat to visitors to the region, especially concerns related to increase use of the Northwest Passage.”
The report notes that hundreds of ground and inland water searches occur every year.
More common emergencies include forest and tundra fires, floods, power outages, blizzards – events that “are becoming not only more frequent, but more severe.” As well, “there is at least one earthquake a week in the North, but to date this has luckily only happened outside of populated areas.”
The report points to an event in August, 2010 as a harbinger of future calamities: the cruise ship Clipper Adventurer hit a rock, making refugees of more than 120 passengers in the small hamlet of Kugluktuk, Nunavut, population 1,500. Without any plan in place, the hamlet did their best to take care of the stranded passengers’ basic needs.
“But just because Kugluktuk was able to respond, does not mean it was ‘ready’ in the common understanding of emergency preparedness. The hamlet’s planning priorities are education and health, with search and rescue fifth on the list and power failures during the winter months topping the list of community emergency concerns.”
“A cruise ship running aground was not even on their radar.”
Though local emergency responders will always take action whenever a situation arises, there is often confusion as to who is supposed to be in charge along increasingly busy, especially in coastal communities.
According to the report, notions about emergency response needs in the North are also skewed by the media’s tendency “to focus on big, newsworthy events such as oil spills or cruise ship accidents – not the daily emergencies that most northerners fear, such as flooding, landslides, and forest fires.”
Emergency responders revealed specific concerns around the issue of heavy jet aircraft capable of landing on gravel runways.
The Boeing 737-200 series, first produced in the 1970s, was the last commercial jet aircraft of its’ size capable, when suitably modified, of landing on gravel runways. Newer models with more modern high bypass engines are not able to be modified for gravel use.
“This means that as the remaining gravel modified aircraft age and become economically nonviable there is no suitable replacement. Only 10 runways in the entire three Territories are paved, although others are sufficiently long to handle the B737. Lack of pavement is also delaying air carriers upgrading to newer, more fuel efficient, greener aircraft. This will eventually become a challenge for northern communities.”
The lack of paved runways in the Arctic also limits the emergency landing options for large aircraft operating on the polar overflight routes.
The recommendations in each section of the full report flow from the discussion sessions and participants at the National Roundtable on Arctic Emergency Preparedness.
Considered the seven top recommendations:
- National authorities should place needs of northern residents at the forefront in policies discussions at the national level, as opposed to an exclusive focus on visitors to the region.
- Territorial governments should make available and encourage skill development among community members and volunteer responders, including: traditional and local knowledge for newcomers; basic and wilderness first aid; CPR, including the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs); radio operator training; Incident command system (ICS); Emergency Operating Centre (EOC); Ground Search and Rescue (GSAR); GPS, as well as how to use a map and compass; boat operator license; snowmobile and ATV operator training; small engine mechanics; technical rescue skills: swift water rescue, crevasse rescue, avalanche rescue; and environmental response training. To make this training possible, the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program should be reinstated to full capacity.
- Training at all levels should follow a “two-way knowledge exchange”model, where there is not just training provided by official organizations to community members and volunteers, but there are also opportunities for traditional and local knowledge holders to share their knowledge with territorial and federal level officials. In addition, training programs should be reflective of northern realities and offered in Indigenous languages.
- All communities should complete emergency plans based on the unique situation of their community. However, these plans should be more than a “book on the shelf”, funding should be provided for their regular review and updating, including training new personnel on how to use the plan.
- The call from the Government of the Northwest Territories, which was endorsed by the regional roundtable held in that territory, to place some federal search and rescue assets in Yellowknife closer to the communities that they serve should be answered. The federal government should also provide for adequate manpower for the aircrafts already based in the territory.
- Territorial and First Nations governments should make SPOT or other devices readily available to community members, building on the program in Nunavut. These should ideally be two-way devices.
- Cross-border initiatives between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America should be considered and existing cooperative arrangements between sub-state actors, such as the State of Alaska and the Territory of Yukon supported. To this end, Canada and the United States should fully explore setting up a Canada/US Coast Guard Forum for the Arctic.
About the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program
A partnership between the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto and the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program is dedicated to studying and promoting four overarching areas of concern: public opinion research, Arctic Council, Arctic Peoples and Security, and emergency management. Program details, publications and opinion polls can be accessed at http://www.gordonfoundation.ca. Follow @ArcticSecurity on Twitter.
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News release in full, click here
Example coverage:
The Canadian Press, “Focus northern emergency response on people who live there, not tourists: report,” click here
Sun Media / QMI, English, “Canadian Arctic unprepared for emergencies: report” click here, French, “Les défis de l’Arctique font l’objet de recommandations,” click here
CBC North, “Focus northern emergency response on Northerners: report” click here;
CBC TV, click here (starts ~32 minutes)
Agencia EFE (Spain), “Expertos advierten de que Canadá no está preparada para desastres en Ártico,” click here
Full coverage summary, click here
10-Jun-2013
Biodiversity in watershed covering roughly 20% of Canada compared to Africa’s Serengeti; Alarm raised at melting of permafrost, ice that plays vital global climate role
Canada’s Mackenzie River basin — among the world’s most important major ecosystems — is poorly studied, inadequately monitored, and at serious risk due to climate change and resource exploitation, a panel of international scientists warn today.
In a report, nine Canadian, US and UK scientists convened by the US-based Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy, say effective governance of the massive Basin, comprising an area three times larger than France — holds enormous national and global importance due to the watershed’s biodiversity and its role in hemispheric bird migrations, stabilizing climate and the health of the Arctic Ocean.
The panel agreed the largest single threat to the Basin is a potential breach in the tailings ponds at one of the large oil sands sites mining surface bitumen. A breach in winter sending tailings liquid under the ice of the tributary Athabasca River, “would be virtually impossible to remediate or clean-up,” says the report, available in full at http://bit.ly/13gc01K
News release in full, click here
Coverage by:
The Canadian Press, click here
The Tyee: click here
The Toronto Star, click here
CBC TV, click here
Nature, click here
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix Editorial, click here
Water Canada, click here
Agencia EFE (Spain), Spanish, click here, Portuguese, click here
Coverage summary: click here
]]>13-May-2013
International experts recommend key focus areas for next 2 years
As leadership of the Arctic Council passes from Sweden to Canada May 15, experts say it is crucial that northern nations strengthen response capabilities to shipping-related accidents foreseen in newly-opened northern waters, as well as to more-common local emergencies such as floods, forest fires and rescue situations.
And Canada needs to lead by example. Despite having the world’s longest Arctic coastline and second-largest territory in the region, its far northern marine and aviation infrastructure badly lags by international comparison, according to experts with the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program, an initiative of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto and the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.
Northern emergency flight rescue operations today originate from the Royal Canadian Air Force base in the southern Ontario city of Trenton and involve at least eight hours of flying. The Canadian Coast Guard aims to respond to requests for icebreaking services within 10 hours. However, weather and distance often result in response times measured in days.
By contrast, Russia is building 10 search and rescue stations along its Northern Sea Route, expected to open in 2015.
The Arctic Council ministerial meeting this week is hosted by the outgoing chair, Sweden, in that country’s northernmost city, Kiruna.
News release in full, click here
Selected coverage: by
- Reuters, click here,
- Toronto Star, click here,
- The Canadian Press, click here,
- Postmedia News, click here,
- Agencia EFE, click here
Coverage summary, click here
]]>InterAction Council, Tokyo
Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, Canada
10-Sep-2012
World confronts serious water crisis, former heads of government and experts warn in new report; India and China may exceed supplies in less than 20 years
The world today confronts a water crisis with critical implications for peace, political stability and economic development, experts warn in a new report being launched Sept. 11 jointly by the InterAction Council (IAC), a group of 40 prominent former government leaders and heads of state, together with the United Nations University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health, and Canada’s Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.
“The future political impact of water scarcity may be devastating,” says former Canadian Prime Minister and IAC co-chair Jean Chrétien. “Using water the way we have in the past simply will not sustain humanity in future. The IAC is calling on the United Nations Security Council to recognize water as one of the top security concerns facing the global community.”
“Starting to manage water resources more effectively and efficiently now will enable humanity to better respond to today’s problems and to the surprises and troubles we can expect in a warming world.”
The new report on water and world security is released as Foreign Ministers of several countries prepare for a scheduled special discussion of the topic this month on the margins of the UN General Assembly. UN-Water, a coordinating body for water-related efforts by all UN organizations, will also convene a meeting of experts in New York Sept. 25 to identify key avenues through which such concerns should be addressed, including the Security Council.
In her foreword to the report, “The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security Issue,” IAC member and former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland underlined the danger in many regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa or West Asia and North Africa, where critical water shortages already exist.
“As some of these nations are already politically unstable, such crises may have regional repercussions that extend well beyond their political boundaries. But even in politically stable regions, the status quo may very well be disturbed first and most dramatically by the loss of stability in hydrological patterns.”
In an exhaustive compilation of the many factors contributing to deteriorating water security worldwide, 23 eminent international water expert authors identify a host of serious security, development and social risks associated with the water crisis, including food, health, energy and equity issues.
Full news release: click here
Example coverage:
Agence France Presse, click here
Reuters, click here
The Canadian Press, click here
United Press International, click here
Agencia EFE, click here
Coverage summary: click here
]]>3 September, 2012
Watershed covers roughly 20 percent of Canada, including oil sands;
The Mackenzie may discharge more water into the Arctic than the St. Lawrence into the Atlantic
The governance of Canada’s massive Mackenzie River Basin holds enormous national but also global importance due to the watershed’s impact on the Arctic Ocean, international migratory birds and climate stability, say experts convening a special forum on the topic.
“Relevant parties in western Canada have recognized the need for a multi-party transboundary agreement that will govern land and water management in the Mackenzie River watershed. Successful collaboration will effectively determine the management regime for a watershed covering 1.8 million square kilometers or about 20 percent of Canada – an area roughly three times the size of France – and include the country’s vast oil sands,” says University of California Prof. Henry Vaux, Chair of the Rosenberg Forum, which meets Sept. 5-7 at Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University with the support of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.
The Forum’s goals include identifying legal and scientific principles relevant to the processes leading ultimately to a coordinated basin-wide approach to management, as well as prioritizing knowledge gaps.
News release in full, click here
Coverage by:
Reuters, click here
The Canadian Press, click here
Agencia EFE, click here
PresseText, click here
Coverage summary, click here
]]>29-May-2012
As Canada prepares to chair the Arctic Council, Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program offers 19 recommendations based on international workshop in January
Finding a new way to fund the full participation of northern indigenous groups with Permanent Participant status at the Arctic Council in all of the organizations working groups and activities should be a top priority when Canada takes the chair of the influential inter-governmental organization next year.
The recommendation is one of 19 offered today by one of Canadas foremost initiatives on Arctic issues the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program to the Canadian government as it prepares to chair the Arctic Council in 2013.
The proposals flow from a two day meeting in Toronto last January involving more than 100 stakeholders from 15 countries including northern indigenous leaders and six foreign ambassadors.
Canada should show leadership in promoting the robust participation of northerners, regional and territorial governments, and especially indigenous representatives, says Tony Penikett, Special Advisor to the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program. To bolster indigenous participation, Canada should lead negotiations for a new funding mechanism to support the research, travel and other expenses that would enable Permanent Participants to fully engage in all the workings of the Arctic Council, including its working groups.
Full members of the Arctic Council are Canada, Russia, the United States, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Denmark (Greenland) the eight countries with Arctic territory. Six northern Indigenous groups the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Arctic Athabaska Council, Gwichin Council International, Sami Council, Russian Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) and Aleut International Association wield strong influence as Permanent Participants. The Arctic Council is the only international organization that gives Indigenous peoples a formal place at the table.
Unfortunately, a lack of funding for travel and research resources has limited the effectiveness of the Permanent Participants in Council proceedings and working groups.
Says Thomas S. Axworthy, President and CEO of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation: When created in 1996 the Arctic Council broke new ground in international governance by officially recognizing the status of Arctic indigenous peoples through the creation of Permanent Participants. But the effectiveness of this innovation has been hampered by uncertain funding of the Permanent Participants who require resources to participate fully in the work of the council, especially the more technical working groups.
The January conference recognized that, more than ever, it is critical that voices of those who actually live in the north be heard by decision-makers. Therefore to achieve the full value of the indigenous break through made at the creation of the council it is now necessary to develop a robust funding mechanism to enhance indigenous participation. Similarly, the expertise of northern state, territorial and regional governments should be more fully utilized by the Arctic Council.”
The paper, “Canada as an Arctic Power: Preparing for the Canadian Chairmanship of the Arctic Council,” (available at http://gordonfoundation.ca/CanadaasanArcticPower) recommends that Canada encourage recognition of the special role for regional, state, and territorial governments in Arctic governance and particularly in the Arctic Council. Many of the original parties to the organizations creation advocated an active role for sub-national governments, which is an idea the Council should return to, says Mr. Axworthy.
Authors of the paper note the northern region has become the theatre for dramatic environmental, economic and political change … Media headlines trumpet the opening of new Arctic sea routes and a rush to resource riches.
The 16-year-old Arctic Council is the most active intergovernmental forum on regional issues today and has been affirmed by key northern nations as the principal venue for discussion of Arctic issues.
May 2011s Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue the first legally binding agreement negotiated within the Councils auspices and the participation of U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Nuuk, Greenland the first ever by a U.S. Secretary of State has increased the organizations clout.
Six non-Arctic nations sit in as Observers today: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands, joined by nine intergovernmental and inter-Parliamentary organisations, and 11 NGOs.
With interest growing in the rapidly-changing Arctic, several non-Arctic nations seek Observer status. The paper recommends that any would-be Observer nations first be required to publicly declare [their] respect for the sovereignty of Arctic states and the rights of Arctic indigenous peoples.
Non-Arctic states interested in observer status include China, India, Brazil, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the European Union and individual European nations such as Italy.
The recommended condition that observers must declare respect for the sovereignty of the Arctic states and the rights of the Arctic indigenous peoples would affect the European Unions consideration as an Observer, due to their stance on indigenous peoples hunting and selling their products on the international market.
Other recommendations to the Canadian government regarding the Arctic Council include:
New Arctic fisheries
Noting that the ice caps recent retreat is creating access to new, largely unregulated fishing grounds with potentially devastating impacts on Arctic marine life and indigenous peoples who rely on the sea, the papers authors call for an assessment of competing interests and existing conflict resolution mechanisms.
They underlined the recent call by 2,000 scientists for a moratorium on Arctic high seas fishing to allow time for research of catch limits and development of an integrated international Arctic fisheries management plan. While the United States and Denmark have adopted this policy, Norway, Russia and Canada have yet to do so and the scientists are especially concerned that countries such as China may soon send its fishers into these unregulated waters.
Says the paper: Should anybody read the term commercial fisheries moratorium to include whaling, Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program Policy Analyst Ryan Dean observes that Norway, Iceland, and others may object. If the Arctic Council chooses to involve itself in these issues, it will likely focus on assessments and science.
A less ice-bound Arctic will inevitably open opportunities for natural resource exploration and exploitation. Various non-Arctic states have already expressed eagerness to exploit these natural resources. Outside interests will lobby both Arctic Council member states and Permanent Participants, who as the Arctics long-time stewards work to protect sensitive habitats while balancing their rights and interests with the claims of the non-Arctic states.
Emergency management
The paper says the need for continued work on an effective international cooperation agreement on air and sea search and rescue was underlined by two fatal air accidents in Northern Canada and a deadly fire on board a Norwegian cruise ship.
An unprecedented agreement in this field was signed last year in Greenland and will be followed shortly by another on maritime oil spill preparedness and response.
The agreement represents the first binding instrument negotiated under the auspices of the Arctic Council, the paper notes, and although not everybody sees binding instruments as a positive step, others welcome the evolution of the Council from a primarily advisory body to a treaty-negotiating forum.
Says Mr. Axworthy: This is a defining moment for Canada to show that it is a leader in the Arctic region, but it must prepare today for its chairmanship if it wants to be taken seriously as an Arctic power. This Arctic Council chairmanship is a chance for Canada to show that it is an Arctic leader beyond its military capabilities, but also in Arctic governance and diplomacy.
Appendix
Recommendations for the Canadian Chairmanship of the Arctic Council
Following the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program conference, THE ARCTIC COUNCIL: ITS PLACE IN THE FUTURE OF ARCTIC GOVERNANCE, held in Toronto on January 17 and 18, 2012, the Program Steering Committee recommends that Canada focus its efforts during its term as chair of the Arctic Council to promote resilience among Arctic peoples and communities. To meet this challenge, the Canadian government should promote the Arctic Council as the primary international venue for promoting Arctic peoples resilience in the face of climate change, globalization, and resource-use conflicts.
It is, therefore, recommended that Canada:
Propose a new funding mechanism to enable Permanent Participants to fully participate in all of the working groups of the Arctic Council.
Support the Permanent Participants in cooperation with the Arctic Council member states to jointly review the role of the Indigenous Peoples Secretariat (IPS) following the creation of the Permanent Secretariat of the Arctic Council in Troms, Norway.
Propose that any candidate for Arctic Council Observer status must publicly declare its respect for the sovereignty of Arctic states and the rights of Arctic indigenous peoples.
Explore the possibility of joint North American initiatives for the back-to-back chairs of the Arctic Council, particularly where Canada and the U.S. have similar agendas.
Encourage the Arctic Council to recognize the special role for regional, state, and territorial governments in Arctic governance and particularly in the Arctic Council.
Work with Arctic Council states to commission baseline studies of Arctic fisheries management issues that would include tabulations of all species, competing interests, and existing mechanisms for conflict resolution, including a moratorium on fisheries in the high seas.
Promote the continued involvement of youth in working group and Permanent Participant projects.
Declare that any new education, health, or youth program offered by the Arctic Council should proceed only on the basis of multi-year funding commitments.
Make the necessary strategic investments in Canadian Arctic air and marine infrastructure to enable Canada to effectively implement the Arctic Council negotiated accord on search and rescue.
Work to continue the evolution of the Arctic Council from a decision-shaping body into a negotiating forum for new binding agreements.
Propose that the Arctic Council encourage the creation of military forums as confidence-building initiatives and visible example of Arctic cooperation.
Urgently work towards the completion of the Oil Spill Preparedness and Response instrument.
Fund the Canadian Polar Commission to a level equivalent to counterpart institutions in other Arctic states.
Appoint a new Arctic Ambassador as its Senior Arctic Official before retaking the Arctic Council Chair.
Lead discussions among the Arctic Eight to ease the visa restrictions for researchers and delegates of the Arctic Council.
Propose that the Arctic Council adopt a communications strategy based on raising awareness of its goals and programs both to audiences in the Arctic region and the wider world.
Encourage the Arctic Council Secretariat to create plain-language summaries of its studies and activities, so that the information is accessible to interested citizens.
Encourage the Arctic Council Secretariat to work with the International Polar Year to create a database that would include a compilation of all projects carried out in the different working groups, as well as under the auspices of the Permanent Participants.
Spearhead an initiative in the Arctic Council to encourage the International Maritime Organization to adopt a mandatory code without further delay.
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News release in full, click here
Example coverage:
The Canadian Press, English, “U.S. have chance to set Arctic agenda: report,” click here, French, “Conseil de l’Arctique: un agenda sur 4 ans envisageable,” click here
Agencia EFE, Spain, Spanish, “La incorporación de China, Brasil o India al Consejo Ártico es “conflictiva””, click here; Portuguese, “Analistas reconhecem dificuldades de incorporar emergentes ao Conselho Ártico,” click here
Inter Press Service, USA “Politics Heats Up Around Arctic Thaw,” click here
Coverage summary, click here
]]>15-Jan-2012
International experts to recommend key issues as Canada prepares to assume Arctic Council chair
With an eye on rapid changes in the resource-rich Arctic, countries like China, India and Brazil, which have no Arctic territories, are nonetheless knocking on the door of the increasingly influential Arctic Council looking for admission as permanent observers.
The issue has divided existing members, with Russia and Canada most strongly opposed. It is among the major questions with which Canada will have to grapple as it prepares to chair the Council next year.
It will also feature prominently on the agenda of a two-day meeting on the future of the Arctic Council, January 17-18 in Toronto: The 2nd annual Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Conference, which has attracted the participation of several experts, national ambassadors and indigenous leaders — more than 100 participants from 15 nations in all.
Example coverage: The Canadian Press, click here; Globe and Mail op-ed, click here; United Press International, click here
Coverage summary, click here
Full news release, click here
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