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The Strategy is a living document. The eight Arctic 

 countries have agreed to hold regular meetings to assess progress 

 and to further develop the plan, and are to meet next at 

 ministerial level in Greenland in September 1993. A practical 

 instrument has thus been created through which the circumpolar 

 nations can work together to address the type of issues of concern 

 to the Senate Select Committee. 



Canadian Initiatives 



The Government of Canada developed its own Green Plan in 

 parallel with the development of the AEPS. Although this 

 six-year, $3 billion comprehensive national environmental plan 

 includes components which relate to the Arctic only indirectly, it 

 also includes a comprehensive plan of action exclusively devoted 

 to the Arctic region — the Arctic Environmental Strategy (AES) , 

 unveiled in April, 1991 (9) . The AES is a six-year, $100 million 

 program which sets out specific programs to address four key 

 environmental challenges in the North: contaminants, water, the 

 clean-up and disposal of waste, and the integration of economic 

 and environmental considerations. The components of this plan of 

 action were developed in partnership with local and national 

 organisations of indigenous peoples, who are now also 

 participating in its implementation. Through the Green Plan 

 Arctic Environmental Strategy, Canada is acting upon its share of 

 the ministerial commitments made in the Rovaniemi Declaration. 



Any plan to protect the Arctic environment must include 

 the effective participation of Russia, the territory of which 

 includes a very large proportion of the land mass bordering the 

 Arctic Ocean and of the fresh water entering it. It is quite 

 clear that the Government of the Russian Federation recognises its 

 responsibilities in this area and is anxious to address them. 

 However, trying to redress the legacy of the past poses enormous 

 practical challenges. 



Canada believes that the eight signatories of the 

 Rovaniemi Declaration share a common resolve to be innovative in 

 seeking ways to assist Russia. In most cases, assistance is 

 taking place on a bilateral basis. In June of this year. Prime 

 Minister Nulroney and Russian President Yeltsin signed a new 

 Canada-Russia Agreement on Cooperation in the Arctic and the North 

 (10) which included a section addressing contaminants. The 

 Agreement replaced earlier versions, which have already proven to 



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