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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 and 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.