Arctic Council

© René Bürgi/AWI
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.
The Arctic Council is the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, Arctic indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular on issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic. See here a short fact sheet on the Arctic Council.
The Arctic Council was founded with the Ottawa Declaration in 1996. The Declaration lists the following countries as Members of the Arctic Council: Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the United States. In addition, six organizations representing Arctic indigenous peoples have status as Permanent Participants. The category of Permanent Participant was created to provide for active participation and full consultation with the Arctic indigenous peoples within the Council. They include: the Aleut International Association, the Arctic Athabaskan Council, Gwich’in Council International, the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North and the Saami Council. Germany, as well as twelve other countries, has Observer status (China, France, United Kingdom, Italy, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapur, Switzerland and Spain). Additionally, 14 governmental organizations and 12 NGO’s act as Arctic Council Observers.
The Arctic Council regularly produces comprehensive, cutting-edge environmental, ecological and social assessments through its Working Groups. Arctic Council assessments and recommendations are the result of analysis and efforts undertaken by the Working Groups. Decisions of the Arctic Council are taken by consensus among the eight Arctic Council States, with full consultation and involvement of the Permanent Participants. The Chairmanship of the Arctic Council rotates every two years among the Arctic States. At the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 5-6 May 2019, Iceland will take over the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council from Finland. The standing Arctic Council Secretariat formally became operational in 2013 in Tromsø, Norway. It provides administrative capacity, institutional memory, enhances communication and outreach and general support to the activities of the Arctic Council.
WORKING GROUPS
The work of the Council is primarily carried out in six Working Groups
Working Group |
Acronym |
Function |
German Experts |
Institute |
Arctic Contaminants Action Program |
ACAP |
Acts as a strengthening and supporting mechanism to encourage national actions to reduce emissions and other releases of pollutants |
Heike Herata |
Federal Environment Agency |
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme |
AMAP |
Monitors the Arctic environment, ecosystems and human populations, and provides scientific advice to support governments as they tackle pollution and adverse effects of climate change |
Volker Rachold |
German Arctic Office / Alfred Wegener Institute |
AMAP |
Expert Group for Short-lived Climate Forcers |
Andreas Herber |
Alfred Wegener Institute |
|
AMAP |
Expert Group on Arctic Ocean Acidification |
Björn Rost |
Alfred Wegener Institute |
|
AMAP |
Expert Group Snow Water Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA) |
Hugues Lantuit |
Alfred Wegener Institute |
|
AMAP |
Expert Group Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP) |
NN |
||
AMAP |
Expert Group Mercury |
NN |
||
Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Group |
CAFF |
Addresses the conservation of Arctic biodiversity, working to ensure the sustainability of the Arctic’s living resources |
Gerold Lüerssen |
Common Wadden Sea Secretariat |
CAFF |
Benthos Expert Network (BEN)Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) |
Dieter Piepenburg |
Alfred Wegener Institute |
|
Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response Working Group |
EPPR |
Works to protect the Arctic environment from the threat or impact of an accidental release of pollutants or radionuclides |
Hans-Peter Damian |
Federal Environment Agency |
Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment |
PAME |
Working Group is the focal point of the Arctic Council’s activities related to the protection and sustainable use of the Arctic marine environment |
Dieter Piepenburg / Jürgen Holfort / Janos Hennicke |
Alfred Wegener Institute and Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency / German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation |
PAME |
Project Marine Litter in the Arctic |
Rita Fabris / Melanie Bergmann |
Federal Environment Agency / Alfred Wegener Institute |
|
Sustainable Development Working Group |
SDWG |
Works to advance sustainable development in the Arctic and to improve the conditions of Arctic communities as a whole |
Kathrin Stephen / Otto Habeck |
Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies / University of Hamburg |
TASK FORCES AND EXPERT GROUPS
The Council may also establish Task Forces or Expert Groups to carry out specific work and Expert Groups that support the Council. Currently, the Arctic Council is advised by three Task Forces and one Expert Group:
Task Force |
Acronym |
German Experts |
Institute |
Task Force on Arctic Marine Cooperation |
TFAMC |
Tim Packeiser |
Federal Agency for Nature Conservation |
Task Force on Telecommunications Infrastructure in the Arctic |
TFTIA |
Simon Plass |
German Aerospace Center (DLR) |
Expert Group |
Acronym |
German Expert |
Institute |
Expert Group in support of implementation of the Framework for Action on Black Carbon and Methane |
EGBCM |
Michael Strogies |
Federal Environment Agency |


Fact Sheet
Links
Arctic Council Working Groups:
Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP)
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP)
Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Group (CAFF)
Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response Working Group (EPPR)