Finland chairs the Arctic Council
Finland took over the two-year chairmanship of the Arctic Council in a ministerial meeting held in Barrow, northern Alaska, on 12-13 October. The gavel was passed on to Finland´s Minister of Justice, Johannes Koskinen, by a representative of the previous presiding country, the United States. The Finnish delegation included the President of the Sami Thing, Pekka Autio, Governor of the Lapland province, Hannele Pokka, as well as representatives from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is the coordinating government office in arctic cooperation.
The Arctic Council, which was founded in 1996, is a high-level cooperation forum focusing primarily on environmental challenges facing the arctic region and on issues dealing with sustainable development. The Council seeks to promote the region´s environmental, economic, social and cultural welfare. One of the key functions of the Arctic Council is to disperse information, encourage education and arouse interest in arctic affairs. There are eight member states in the Council: the Nordic countries, Canada, the United States and Russia. The indigenous peoples have a status of permanent representatives. There are also several observers: states, international and non-governmental organisations.
According to Minister Koskinen, during its two-year chairmanship Finland seeks to strengthen the role of the Arctic Council as a political actor in global affairs and to involve the Council in arctic cooperation with the EU. A particular key task will be the launch of an evaluation process on the work and structures of the Arctic Council. The objective is to enhance environmental protection and to clarify action plans based on the principles of sustainable development. The implementation of the valuable information and recommendations provided by the environmental working groups of the Arctic Council is now vitally important, says Minister Koskinen.
In his statement, Minister Koskinen emphasised the unique composition of the Arctic Council; indigenous peoples participate actively in the dialogue with the representatives of the governments, all sitting at the same table. It is instrumental to ensure a continuous dialogue between the capitals and the indigenous peoples as well as strengthen the cooperation between the various arctic actors.
The promotion of arctic research and the project of the University of the Arctic are among the topics of the Finnish agenda. The University of the Arctic is based on promoting arctic academic education by utilising new information technology. The interim Secretariat of the University is located in Rovaniemi, at the Arctic Centre of the University of Rovaniemi. During its chairmanship Finland will also launch new projects to advance economic and social development, for example in the transport and forestry sector.
Finland has established a working group for the chairmanship with representatives from various governmental agencies, the Province of Lapland, including representatives of the Sami people, business life, research community and non-governmental organisations. Much is expected of the Finnish Chair and Finland will do its utmost to live up to the expectations by working in close cooperation with all member states and permanent representatives
More information: Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Unit for the Northern Dimension, tel. +358 9 1341 6187.