Arctic Council Secretariat
- ️@arcticcouncil
The Arctic Council Secretariat (ACS) supports the Chair of the Arctic Council.
At the Nuuk Ministerial Meeting May 2011 Arctic Ministers decided to establish the Standing Arctic Council Secretariat at the Fram Centre in Tromsø. The Standing Secretariat became operational 1 June 2013.
ACS functions
Administrative and organizational support
- arranging and servicing meetings as required
- transmitting reports to and from Arctic states, Permanent Participants, Working Groups and Task Forces, other subsidiary bodies and Observers
- assisting the Chair in drafting meeting documents including final reports
- providing services to Permanent Participants and Working Groups
- administrative services concerning general correspondence
- archiving of records
Communication and outreach
- operating the Arctic Council website, including web pages of those Working Groups without a secretariat
- facilitating and improving the quality and availability of information on the Arctic Council
- recording, maintaining and posting, as appropriate, the records of the Arctic Council
- facilitating the exchange of information among the Arctic states, Permanent Participants and Observers
- at the request of SAOs and Permanent Participants, developing strategic communication and outreach plans and other documents under the direct supervision of the Chair, in support of the Arctic Council
The powerhouse behind the scenes
Nina Buvang Vaaja has shaped the Arctic Council Secretariat (ACS) like no other. When her term as Director ends in August, she will have served the Arctic Council for twe...
02 Jul 2021
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The eight Arctic states are permanent members of the Arctic Council.
Out of a total of 4 million inhabitants of the Arctic, approximately 500,000 belong to Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples’ organizations have been granted Permanent Participants status in the Arctic Council.
The Council's activities are conducted in six Working Groups.
Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat
The Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat (IPS) provides support for the Permanent Participants, the groups representing Arctic Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic Council.
The Arctic Council turned 25 in 2021! Learn more with this timeline of our history.
The establishment of the Arctic Council was considered an important milestone enhancing cooperation in the circumpolar North. In the Ottawa Declaration, the eight Arctic States established the Council as a high-level forum to provide means for promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States – including the full consultation and full involvement of Arctic Indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants.
At any given time the Council’s subsidiary bodies – the Working and Expert Groups – are engaged in close to 100 projects and initiatives.
As the Arctic continues to experience a period of intense and accelerating change it has become increasingly important to have better information on the status and trends of the Arctic environment.
Through the ever-growing body of assessments produced by its six Working Groups, the Arctic Council serves as knowledge broker and global advocate for Arctic topics. The Working Groups’ assessments have been instrumental in bringing Arctic issues to a global arena through policy recommendations and international cooperation.
The strong knowledge base produced by the Arctic Council’s Working Groups and other subsidiary bodies feeds into recommendations for informed decision-making.
The Arctic is home to almost four million people today – Indigenous people, more recent arrivals, hunters and herders living on the land, and city dwellers.
The Arctic is home to more than 21,000 known species of highly cold-adapted mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates, plants and fungi and microbes.
The temperatures in the Arctic continue to rise at three times the global annual average.
The Arctic States hold a responsibility to safeguard the future development of the region and to develop models for stewardship of the marine environment.
The Arctic environment carries the traces of human-induced pollution – from soot to plastics, from methane to pesticides.
Harsh conditions and limited infrastructure in much of the Arctic increase risks and impacts and hinder response activities.