POLICY ADVICE

 The Arctic Dialogue is an information exchange forum initiated by the Alfred Wegener Institute in 2013. The forum offers the opportunity to strengthen and foster an open dialogue between those invested in Arctic research and politics and provide the German Federal Ministries and Agencies access to relevant findings, field experiences and international contacts. The support and further development of this forum is one of the key tasks of the German Arctic Office.

The Federal Foreign Office represents Germany in the Arctic Council and promotes German contributions to its activities. German participation has substantially increased during the past few years. National experts represent Germany in all Arctic Council Working Groups and Task Forces as well as in the Expert Group on Black Carbon and Methane. The Arctic Office supports the Federal Foreign Office in the selection process of the nomination of scientific experts through its extensive scientific network.

From 2021-2025 the Alfred Wegener Institute coordinates the EU funded Arctic PASSION Project. The aim is to implement an Arctic Observing System that addresses the urgent needs of people living in the Arctic and that is relevant to European and global society.

Taking the geopolitical, environmental and economic importance of the Arctic into consideration, Germany’s Federal Government recognizes the region as an area of political priority. Priorities set by Germany include environmental protection of the Arctic region, the conservation of its biodiversity and the sustainable development of economic opportunities for German and European industries.

With the overarching aim to shape the course of future Arctic research, science ministers, researchers and representatives of international organizations and Arctic indigenous peoples are meeting every two years within the scope of the Arctic Science Ministerial. The German Arctic Office is supporting the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with coordinating the German contributions and was in charge of the scientific preparations of the second Ministerial that was organized by the BMBF, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and the European Commission in Berlin, October 2018.