Аннотация:Evidence that the Arctic is warming at an average rate more than twice the global average is
accepted by Arctic states and major international scientific organisations. The preeminent
world scientific body on climate change the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
says in its most recent assessment report that, “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal …” and that, “Human influence on the climate system is clear, and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest in history”. The same report goes on to say that warming will continue for decades given the freight of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, and identifies polar ecosystems as highly vulnerable. The implications of climate change in the Arctic have been understated by the IPCC according to some observers.
The IPCC is now making a special report on climate change and the oceans and the cryosphere.
The Arctic Council (AC) is a body set up by the eight Arctic states (Canada, Denmark
[Greenland], Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States) with the
participation of international Arctic Indigenous peoples’ organisations. It is augmented by
12 observer states, and several more observer organisations (including WWF). Its twin missions of sustainable development and environmental protection were cemented in with its
founding document, the 1996 Ottawa Declaration. Given those missions, it was inevitable
that the Council would find itself grappling with climate change. How does an organisation
ensure environmental protection in an environment already experiencing environmental
change, a change that is projected to become ever more disruptive to ecological systems?
Furthermore, how does it ensure sustainable development, when the context for that development is not only ecosystems in flux but also potential industrial impacts from industries driven by global demand and potentiated by the changing climate? In this article, we review what we believe the AC can do, what it is doing, and what its future role may be in answering these questions.