Foreign Minister Haavisto attends the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting on 19–20 May in Reykjavik.

The meeting will mark the end of the two-year Icelandic Chairmanship. The priorities of its Chairmanship programme have been protection of the Arctic marine environment, green energy solutions, and strengthening of the Arctic Council. The Icelandic Chairmanship has also explored solutions to the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic for the Arctic region and developed the cooperation with members of the Arctic Council that have observer status.

The Reykjavik Ministerial will adopt the Icelandic Chairmanship’s final declaration (Reykjavik Declaration) and a strategic programme for the Arctic Council until 2030.

At this meeting, Iceland will hand over the two-year Chairmanship to the Russian Federation.

The 25-year-old Arctic Council is a forum that promotes cooperation among the governments of the Nordic countries, Canada, Russia and the USA and six organisations representing Arctic indigenous peoples. It is tasked to promote cooperation between the Arctic States and Arctic indigenous communities, focusing on environmental protection and sustainable development. The Arctic Council's establishment in 1996 by the Ottawa Declaration was preceded by the Rovaniemi Process on climate issues, which was initiated by Finland in 1991.

While in Reykjavik, Foreign Minister Haavisto will have also bilateral meetings, including with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau and Icelandic Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Cooperation Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson.

Inquiries:

Otto Turtonen, Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 295 350 015

Petteri Vuorimäki, Ambassador for the Arctic and Antarctic, tel. +358 50 430 6741

The Foreign Ministry’s email addresses are in the format [email protected].