Publication discussing third                             agreement of the Arctic States
                         on international                                              scientific cooperation 

The Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation is the third binding legal agreement among all eight Arctic States under the auspices of the Arctic Council since 2011. It was developed during the US chairmanship of the Arctic Council by a US-, Russian-led task force and signed at the “10thArctic Council Ministerial Meeting” in Fairbanks, Alaska, on 11 May 2017 by foreign ministers of the eight Arctic States as well as from Greenland and the Faroe Islands. After a year had passed it entered into force. 

The aim of the agreement is the improvement of the cooperation within Arctic research. Foci are the following areas:

  • Support of research activities
  • Improvement of the access to scientific facilities, infrastructure and research sites for data acquisition
  • More open access of data accessibility 
  • Integration of traditional and local knowledge into research activities 
  • Improvement of the opportunities for students and early-career researchers 

The agreement was discussed during a dialogue panel about “Supporting Implementation of the Arctic Science Agreement” at the “Arctic Circle Assembly 2018” in Reykjavik, Island. The opening interventions of the panellists were published in the Science Diplomacy Action - Synthesis No. 3 by the Science Diplomacy Center, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, USA.

The publication, including the opening interventions and the original agreement, can be found here.