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Creating a more Resilient Arctic
The Arctic Council’s first Arctic Resilience Forum took place September 2018 in Rovaniemi, Finland to showcase resilience actions in the region and examine opportunities for cooperation. The Forum gathered over 100 Arctic experts, policymakers, and key stakeholders. The purpose of the event was to strengthen cooperation on work related to resilience in the face of climate change and to present and discuss resilience best-practices from Arctic Council Working Groups’ and other stakeholder’s projects.
Resilience is a cross-cutting topic that has become increasingly important to the Arctic Council in the face of rapid changes. The Arctic Resilience Action Framework (ARAF) was approved by the eight foreign ministers at the 10th Ministerial meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska in May of 2017. It provides the Arctic Council with a common set of Guiding Principles, Priorities for Action, and a platform to share, examine, and fund new priorities as they evolve.
Joel Clement, Arctic Initiative Senior Fellow, participated in the conference and spoke as an expert on panels related to expanding the use of innovative financial mechanisms for improving resilience and building collaborative bridges to enable resilience action. Joel led the development of the Arctic Resilience Action Framework during his time as a federal executive.
In the coming year, the Arctic Initiative looks forward to collaborating with the Arctic Council working groups to advance implementation of the ARAF.
By examining resilience actions and policies in the region, the Arctic Initiative will provide assessments to Arctic Council partners and other collaborators and recommend opportunities for next steps.
Photos: Joel Clement being recognized as an Environmental Champion for his work as a federal executive, including his involvement in the development of the Arctic Resilience Action Framework.
