2008 Annual Meeting and Arctic Forum | Abstracts

The Future of the Arctic Council in View of the Incoming Climate Change

Md Waliul Hasanat^1
1The Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, The Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, PO Box 122, Rovaniemi, 96101, Finland, Phone +358-16-3412771, Fax +358-16-3412777, waliul.hasanat@ulapland.fi

Soft-law instruments have been developed over three decades, some of which have created permanent cooperation among states. The Arctic Council is a permanent forum created by eight Arctic states to promote environmental protection and sustainable development in the Arctic. Climate change, however, is seriously affecting the main objectives of the Council. Through the course of time, climate change has grown as an important issue under the Arctic Council. The Council provides noteworthy information to the policy-makers and other actors so as to limit climate change and to address its impacts on arctic ecosystems and residents. Even with its institutional weaknesses for want of proper mechanisms, the Council functions through its various working groups and their programs. This poster shows a few proposals for reforming the structure of the Council with respect to addressing incoming consequences of climate change.