MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1998 



(a) provide a means for promoting cooperation, 

 coordination, and interaction among the Arctic states, 

 with the involvement of Arctic indigenous people and 

 other Arctic residents on Arctic issues of common 

 interest and concern, in particular issues related to 

 environmental protection and sustainable development 

 in the Arctic; (b) oversee and coordinate the programs 

 established under the Arctic Environmental Protection 

 Strategy; (c) adopt terms of reference for and oversee 

 and coordinate a sustainable development program; 

 and (d) disseminate information, encourage education, 

 and promote interest in Arctic-related issues. Among 

 other things, the declaration specifies that: 



• the council should normally meet biennially, with 

 meetings of senior officials taking place more 

 frequently to provide for liaison and coordination; 



• responsibility for hosting meetings of the Arctic 

 Council, including provision of secretarial support, 

 should rotate sequentially among the Arctic coun- 

 tries; 



• as its first order of business, the council should 

 adopt rules of procedure for its meetings and those 

 of its working groups; and 



• the decisions of the council are to be made by 

 consensus of its members {i.e., the eight Arctic 

 countries). 



Three organizations representing Arctic indigenous 

 people were afforded permanent participant status 

 under the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy 

 and were entitled to send representatives to all minis- 

 terial, senior official, and working group meetings. 

 They are given the same status by the Arctic Council 

 declaration. These organizations are the Inuit Cir- 

 cumpolar Conference, the Saami Council, and the 

 Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, 

 Siberia, and the Far East of the Russian Federation. 

 The council also provides for other organizations to 

 be granted the same status, and at the first ministerial 

 meeting of the council, held in Canada in September 

 1998, the council adopted a U.S. proposal to recog- 

 nize the Aleut International Association as a perma- 

 nent participant. 



The 1998 Arctic Council Meeting 



The first ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council 

 was held in Iqaluit, Northwest Territories, Canada, on 



18-19 September 1998. Preparations for that meeting 

 began in 1996 under the chairmanship of Canada. At 

 Iqaluit, the United States became chair of the Arctic 

 Council for the following two-year period. 



The ministers at the Iqaluit meeting adopted new 

 mandates for working groups of the Arctic Council 

 (formerly working groups under the Arctic Environ- 

 mental Protection Strategy), established a new sustain- 

 able development working group, and adopted rules of 

 procedure for the Arctic Council and terms of refer- 

 ence for a sustainable development program. On the 

 pivotal issue of observers, the rules of procedure 

 provide that there must be consensus among the eight 

 Arctic nations to grant observer status and that this 

 status shall continue "for such time as consensus 

 exists at the Ministerial meeting." 



The terms of reference take a procedural approach 

 to consideration of projects related to sustainable 

 development, specifying issues that must be consid- 

 ered before the Arctic Council approves a sustainable 

 development project. Thus, proposals for sustainable 

 development projects must clearly outline issues to be 

 addressed and any anticipated financial needs and 

 implications, suggest ways of dealing with those needs 

 and implications, and describe the benefits to be 

 realized from the project. 



Meetings of senior Arctic officials were held in 

 Canada in February and May, in London in August, 

 and again in Canada in September 1998, immediately 

 before the Arctic Council meeting. The Marine 

 Mammal Commission worked with the Department of 

 State, other federal agencies, and the Alaska Govern- 

 or's office to develop U.S. positions for these meet- 

 ings. The Commission contracted with an indepen- 

 dent scientist familiar with the work of the Arctic 

 Environmental Protection Strategy and the Arctic 

 Council to represent the Commission on the U.S. 

 delegations to the May and September meetings of the 

 senior Arctic officials as well as the Arctic Council 

 meeting itself The contractor's reports (see Hunting- 

 ton 1998a, b,c,d in Appendix B) noted that the Arctic 

 Council is in its formative stages and that several 

 matters related to the efficiency and effectiveness of 

 the Arctic Council's work will take time to resolve. 



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