47 



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systems operating in the Arctic and develop proposals for future 



action in this field. Finally, it was agreed that Canada and 

 Sweden would begin work on the elaboration of an Arctic 



Sustainable Development Strategy. Draft reports on these subjects 

 were reviewed at the second meeting on the Finnish Initiative, in 



Yellowknife, in Canada's Northwest Territories, in April, 1990, 

 and were subsequently published (5) . 



Several important developments occurred at the 

 Yellowknife meeting. The first was the participation for the 

 first time of Arctic non-governmental organisations — the Inuit 

 Circumpolar Conference, the (U.S.S.R.) Association of Small 

 Peoples of the North, and the Nordic Saami Council — as formal 

 observers. Second, the structure of the Declaration on the 

 Protection of the Arctic Environment and the companion Arctic 

 Environmental Protection Strategy began to take shape (6) . The 

 Declaration and Strategy were further developed at a preparatory 

 meeting in Kiruna, Sweden, in January, 1991, and the Declaration 

 was signed by all eight circumpolar countries in Rovaniemi, 

 Finland, in June, 1991 (7) . 



The Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy 



The Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS) 

 establishes objectives and defines a set of common principles to 

 guide the Arctic countries in taking action to protect ecosystems 

 and promote the sustainable utilisation of resources. The 

 Strategy contains a review of the problems posed by persistent 

 contamination by organic substances, oil, heavy metals, noise, 

 radioactivity and acidification, and a program of action to 

 respond to environmental degradation resulting from these six 

 issues. The proposed actions take advantage of existing 

 international tools and mechanisms, where possible. For example, 

 the eight Arctic countries agreed to utilise the Task Force led by 

 Canada and Sweden under the United Nations Economic Commission for 

 Europe (ECE) to develop proposals for international control of 

 persistent organic compounds under the Convention on Long-Range 

 Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) by 1994. 



The Strategy also outlines specific commitments related 

 to Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment, Emergency 

 Prevention, Preparedness and Response, Conservation of Arctic 

 Flora and Fauna, and the establishment of an Arctic Monitoring and 

 Assessment Program (AMAP) . The latter is at present being 

 developed by a circumpolar task force and its content is expected 

 to be finalised at a meeting scheduled to take place in Toronto in 

 December 1992 (8) . 



. . ./4 



