It was not at the negotiating table, but at the more informal breakfast meetings that a
political breakthrough was made during the Arctic Environment Ministers' Conference in
Inuvik in the north-westernmost corner of Canada.
On the final day, after protracted negotiations where the US had blocked the establishment
of an Arctic Council with a real mandate, the environment ministers succeeded
unexpectedly in arriving at complete consensus on the establishment of a political forum
for the Arctic, involving the participation of the eight states that have land in the region.
The eight states are the USA (on behalf of Alaska), Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Iceland,
Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.The details concerning the composition and structure
of the Council will be agreed upon in Ottawa in April so that the ceremonial signing of
documents and thereby the formal establishment of the Council can take place in July in
Equalit, the capital of the Canadian Home Rule region of Nunavut.
"The decisive breakthrough is that the Arctic Council has been established without
reservations. Thus it is agreed that the Council's task, apart from taking charge of the
strategy programme for the conservation of the Arctic environment, shall also be to work
towards the economic development and sustainable use of the natural resources in the
Arctic regions. Thus, for the first time, the USA has recognized the Arctic peoples' right
to the economic use of whales and seals. The political consequences of this fact must
involve the USA giving up their extremely restrictive trade policy whereby trade in marine
mammal products has been made a crime," says national executive environmental
representative, Marianne Jensen ...
Victory will be followed up
At the same time, the national executive, in cooperation with the Danish foreign and
environmental offices, must now assess the next strategic steps to be taken in the Nordic
Council, the EU and the UN, in order to follow up this decision so that trade restrictions
on sealskins and whale products are lifted completely.
I am now optimistic with a view to their success," says Marianne Jensen.
The Greenlandic national executive member officially represented the Danish state at the
environment minister conference, and is apparently the first Greenlandic politician who, by
way of their signature, has made commitments on behalf of the Danish government in an
international forum.
None of the other so-called Arctic states have appointed delegation leaders that actually
live in Arctic regions.
"The Danish Greenlandic delegation is intently listened to. I interpret this as an expression
of respect and acknowledgement of the role of the Greenland Home Rule in the Danish
state community, and in particular as recognition of the active Danish-Greenlandic efforts
in environmental cooperation.
We haven't just leaned back and made demands, but have been in the vanguard ourselves,
both with a view to commitment to the environmental programme, and to financing the
implementation of the programme," says Marianne Jensen.
The Will to Negotiate
Distribution
"I consider this a significant political victory. But the fact that the road has now been
paved for an Arctic Council is not enough. First we must ensure that the Council is given
the structure and expertise necessary so that its decisions are not watered down.
"I am pleasantly surprised over the member state's will to negotiate during the conference.
For instance, by convincing Russia to declare an end to the dumping of radioactive waste
in the Barents Sea," says Marianne Jensen ...
The first major scientific report on the current state of the Arctic environment will be
complete in a year's time. With this, coordinated documentation of the influence of
pollution on people, animals and plants in the entire Arctic area will be available for the
first time. A shorter, more popular edition of the report will be published simultaneously,
although this version will only be available in English ...