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Love & Peace

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Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

By Else Berit Eikeland, Senior Arctic Official, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway
Gunn-Britt Retter, Head of the Arctic and Environment Unit, Saami Council

It was quite an achievement that the Arctic indigenous peoples got a seat as permanent participants at the table; first at the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS), which then developed into the Arctic Council with the mandate to discuss environmental protection and sustainable development.

The Arctic indigenous peoples welcomed this initiative, and today, could you even imagine what the Arctic Council would be without the indigenous peoples? The Arctic Council is unique. It is the only forum in the world where the indigenous peoples and the states sit at the same table.

The Senior Arctic Officialsʼ (SAO) meetings are all organized in small communities in the Arctic. Travelling to these meetings is a reminder for all of us that the Council is built on the well-being of the people of the North. Every visit to an Arctic community is teaching us that the Arctic is not one but different places with varied population and various needs and priorities related to sustainable development.

The Arctic Council is sometimes accused of being ineffective, with most of the time spent talking and agreeing on irrelevant matters. Our colleagues ask what exactly we are doing in the SAO meetings. Do we need a separate forum just to agree and be friends with Arctic states and indigenous peoples? Is the main objective environmental and climate issues or peace and love in the Arctic?

Such questions relate to what appears to be the most effective form of international cooperation, namely the treaty-based cooperation where the strongest voice is heard and disagreements are resolved by majority vote. Such cooperation might polarize disagreements and not give room to build consensus. The decision-making process in the Arctic Council is inspired and modeled after the indigenous consultations with extensive dialogue until an agreement is reached. Such processes can be demanding, but there are no clear winners or losers. We all move to a new understanding. The strength of consensus is the power behind the decision.

Strengthening and further developing the Arctic Council should be based on this consensus-based decision-making process. To answer the questions above: yes, the Arctic Council is about the environment and climate change and promoting sustainable development in a changing Arctic. In addition, the Arctic Council is about building trust and cooperation between all key stakeholders in the Arctic. Fundamentally, the Arctic Council is about peace and love. That is why it is worth celebrating.

Table of Contents

  1. Letter from the Editor in Chief

    By Outi Snellman

  2. 20 Years of Peaceful Cooperation

    By Børge Brende

  3. Celebrating 20 Years of the Arctic Council

    By David Balton

  4. International Cooperation for Arctic Prosperity

    By Sergey Lavrov

  5. Minister Greetings: Finland

    By Timo Soini

  6. Minister Greetings: Iceland

    By Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson

  7. Setting the Stage for Arctic Cooperation

    By Eirik Sivertsen

  8. It All Started in Rovaniemi

    By Markku Heikkilä

  9. Interview with Mary Simon

    By Stig Brøndbo

  10. Interview with Thorvald Stoltenberg

    By Stig Brøndbo

  11. Interview with Alona Yefimenko

    By Stig Brøndbo

  12. Interview with Sheila Watt-Cloutier

    By Stig Brøndbo

  13. The Role of the Working Groups in the Work of the Arctic Council

    By David Stone and Lars-Otto Reiersen

  14. Science to Policy: Arctic Biodiversity Assessment

    By Tom Barry and Courtney Price

  15. The Arctic Council: A Model for Cooperation

    By Timo Koivurova

  16. The Arctic Council: A Victory for Soft Law & Soft Security

    By Heather Exner-Pirot

  17. The Arctic Council: Maintaining Peace Through Cooperation

    By Michael Byers

  18. Arctic Human Development

    By Joan Nymand Larsen and Gail Fondahl

  19. Towards Revival of Arctic Cooperation

    By Olli Rehn

  20. The Arctic Economic Council: Connecting with the Business Community

    By Tara Sweeney

  21. Working Inside the Arctic Council: Arctic Change and World Reindeer Herders

    By Mikhail Pogodaev and Anders Oskal

  22. Observer States in the Arctic Council: A Way Forward to Better Cooperation

    By Justin Kim

  23. The Arctic: A Place for the Miraculous

    By Chen Yitong

  24. The Arctic Council Adapting to the Future

    By Arild Moe, Svein Vigeland Rottem and Olav Schram Stokke

  25. The Way Forward for the Arctic Council

    By Oran R. Young

  26. Student Profiles

    By students from Arctic states

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