Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Its concurrent “commitment to the protection of the Arctic environment, including
the health of Arctic ecosystems, maintenance of biodiversity in the Arctic region
and conservation and sustainable use of natural resources”.
Overthelastdecade,ArcticCouncilministershavereceivedseveralcomprehensivereports
from AMAP and others on Arctic climate change. The council has progressively responded
to these reports with stronger and stronger language, urging, for example, parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to continue to take
urgent measures “to meet the long-term goal aimed at limiting increase in global average
temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels” (Kiruna Declaration,
May 2013). Other actions by the Council have ranged from asking for reports on Arctic
resilience to climate change to exploring how to achieve reductions in short-lived climate-
forcing agents. These are all very worthy activities. However, lurking and ignored in the
background is the true monster: that cumulative, ever-growing inventory of atmospheric
carbon dioxide that is overwhelming the natural capacity of our planet to deal with it. The
important first step is for the Arctic Council to bring its voice into the emission reduction
debate. How may the Arctic Council grasp this initiative?
I believe it is time for one or more of the Arctic countries to step forward and make a
bold proposal, as Finland did in 1989. The proposal could be something along the follow-
ing lines:
The Arctic region is experiencing climate warming that is twice the global
average. Arctic ecosystems are changing or vanishing before our eyes.
We recognize that the Arctic Council member states are collectively responsible
for about 30% of global CO
2
emissions.
We believe that the Arctic Council must show leadership in addressing the root
cause of the issue: the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs)
(primarily carbon dioxide). We suggest that Arctic Council states consider seizing
the opportunity before the UNFCCC meeting in 2015 to explore and describe
cooperative actions or strategies aimed to guide or influence their individual
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