Ninth Conference of Parliamentarians of
the Arctic Region, European Parliament, Brussels 13-15 September 2010
CONFERENCE STATEMENT
We, the elected representatives of Canada,
Denmark/Greenland, the European Parliament, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia,
Sweden;
In collaboration with the indigenous peoples of
the Arctic;
Meeting to discuss the sustainable use of living
resources in the Arctic, cooperation in education and research – the legacy of
IPY, and the consequences of the melting ice;
Considering the transformative change now
occurring in the Arctic driven by the forces of climate change and
globalization resulting in tighter economic and geopolitical links;
Ask the governments in the Arctic Region, the
Arctic Council and the institutions of the European Union:
Regarding the sustainable management of
living resources in the Arctic, to
1. Create mechanisms that emphasize ecosystem-based
management and extended environmental impact assessment procedures, as well as
social impacts, on an Arctic-wide basis.
2. Establish Arctic cooperation on the
management of living resources in the Arctic, and formulate a common set of
goals and interests.
3. Examine what sort of practical hunting and
fisheries education exists in the Arctic, and facilitate a closer cooperation
between research institutions and hunting organizations in the Arctic region.
4. Commission the University of the Arctic to
strengthen education, including traditional knowledge, related to the
sustainable hunting of marine mammals and establish a network between
educational institutions in this field, as well as increase the number of
grants to PhD fellowships and research into marine mammals.
5. Collect and share data on new and emerging
fisheries within their exclusive economic zones toward ensuring sustainable
development of those fisheries and to work towards consistency of approaches
and standards for managing transborder stocks.
6. Strengthen the cooperation of the circumpolar
reindeer herders' network, including the IPY legacy, the University of the
Arctic Institute for Circumpolar Reindeer Husbandry, as reindeer as a species
and their grazing lands have a special significance for human life and the
economy in the Arctic.
Regarding cooperation in education and
research, and the follow-up of the International Polar Year, to
7. Enhance Arctic research and education
programs for circumpolar projects with the possibility for non-Arctic countries
to participate.
8. Implement agreements and share information
between the Arctic countries and other interested nations that secure access to
research data and information about the Arctic.
9. Secure long-term monitoring of development in
the Arctic and support the Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) process.
10. Arrange a meeting between the ministers
responsible for research in Arctic countries and the ministers from countries
participating in the International Polar Year, if possible in conjunction with
the IPY Conference in Montreal 22-27 April 2012, in order to promote mutually
beneficial interaction between the science and policy communities.
11. Assess the IPY results and, together with
scientific organizations, develop a document for decision-makers of emerging
key research findings, and promote consultations on the proposal for an
International Polar Decade.
12. Provide easy access to the results of IPY
for researchers, decision-makers and the general public.
13. Move forward on the plans by the European
Commission to set up an EU Arctic Information Centre, taking note of the idea
to set up such a centre as a network with a hub at the Arctic Centre of the
University of Lapland, Finland, and cooperating with relevant research
institutions.
14. Strengthen existing mobility and exchange
programs to increase circumpolar mobility as well as “Go North” mobility for
students from southern locations as a focused means to secure international
cooperation, integration, and the development of future polar scientists.
15. Connect the science community and the
business sector in order to use the results from polar research to create new
jobs in the Arctic region, particularly for those already living there.
16. Further develop and continue partnerships
and general dialogue with local and indigenous communities in business
development, knowledge development, IPY legacies and democracy building in the
Arctic.
17. Continue to provide programs to encourage
interdisciplinary research cooperation in the Arctic.
Regarding consequences of the melting ice in
the Arctic, to
18. Conclude the agreement on search and rescue
and increase capacity in the Arctic Region in order to ensure the appropriate
response to possible accidents as the Arctic opens up to marine shipping.
19. Strengthen existing measures and develop new
measures to improve the safety of maritime navigation, in particular through
the International Maritime Organization and its ongoing work, notably in the
development of a compulsory Polar Code.
20. Implement the recommendations of the Arctic
Council's Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment.
21. Raise a strong Arctic message to combat
climate change at the COP 16 negotiations in Mexico 2010.
22. Enhance efforts to prevent and mitigate
climate change and its consequences for Arctic populations and wildlife
habitats.
23. Continue to improve the assessment of the
environmental, societal and economic consequences of natural resources´
exploration and extraction.
24. Support the Icelandic initiative toward a
second Arctic Human Development Report in 2014, bringing together
state-of-the-art knowledge from the IPY that covers Arctic societies and their
welfare in a global context.
Ask the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians
of the Arctic Region, to
25. Engage in the preparation of the next
Conference of the International Polar Year in Canada in April 2012 and actively
participate in the Conference.
26. In cooperation with University of the Arctic
strengthen the open dialogue between the science community and political
leadership in the circumpolar north.
27. Ask the University of the Arctic in
cooperation with organisations like IASSA and IASC increasingly to publish
Arctic relevant knowledge in reviewed academic journals, with a focus on marine
mammals.
28. Promote the Statement from the Ninth
Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region in the development of an
Arctic policy in the European Union and the Arctic states, and involve all the
member parliaments in this process.
29. Encourage member parliaments to organize
conferences and public consultation exercises on the sustainable management of
living resources in the Arctic that involve the participation and contributions
of fishermen, hunters, reindeer herders, scientists, politicians and other
interested parties.
Furthermore the Conference
30. Asks the Arctic Council and Arctic
governments to establish a panel to provide an assessment on how the Arctic
nations can prepare for new opportunities and challenges as a result of a
changing Arctic, and on the basis of such a study, create a vision for the
Arctic in 2030. The panel should include representatives of the science
community, parliamentarians, business community and indigenous peoples’ organizations.
31. Asks the Arctic states to arrange an Arctic
Summit at the level of heads of state and government to show leadership and
promote the Arctic region as an area of peaceful development and cooperation.
32. Supports the Arctic Council as the primary
forum for Arctic cooperation, and encourages the Arctic Council to arrange
annual ministerial meetings in to strengthen its legal and economic base, and
to establish a permanent secretariat for the Council.
33. Calls on the partners of the Northern
Dimension Policy and the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, as well as the other
structures of cooperation in the Northern Dimension region, to actively
implement the policy in the Arctic, and especially to include the Arctic in the
new efforts to develop logistics and transportation, environmental policies, as
well as to promote cultural exchange.
34. Takes note of the EU´s efforts to develop an
Arctic Policy and encourages the Arctic Council to consider granting the EU
Commission permanent observer status in the Council in order to strengthen
cooperation between the Council and the European Union.
35. Supports an active dialogue between Arctic
and non-Arctic states in order to increase awareness among the general public
as well as governments of the Arctic and its importance, not only regionally
but globally.
36. Encourage the European Commission and Arctic
governments to have effective dialogue with Arctic indigenous peoples on
matters concerning them.
37. Acknowledges the interest and presence of
parliamentary observers and representatives from governments and non-government
agencies at this Conference, and recognizes their important role in relaying
the messages and supporting the actions herein discussed.
38. Welcomes the forthcoming Swedish
Chairmanship of the Arctic Council and looks forward to continued cooperation
with the Arctic Council.
39. Welcomes and accepts the kind invitation of
the Parliament of Iceland to host the tenth Conference in 2012.