Ten Years of Arctic Environmental Cooperation

Opening
Ministers and Distinguished Guests, I join those who have already spoken in heartily applauding the visionary leadership of Finland. Looking back over the last 10 years, the United States is proud to have been a part of what the Arctic Council and its predecessor, the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS) have accomplished. Publication of the State of the Arctic Environment, for example, illustrates the consistently high standards in the Arctic Council, both for collaborative scientific work and for responsibly raising public awareness of Arctic pollution issues. Looking forward, we see the Council poised to build on the momentum of the first 10 years to achieve even more. For example, we believe two new initiatives -- the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) and the International Circumpolar Surveillance (ICS) system for infectious disease -- show promise. Both activities enjoy excellent circumpolar cooperation in the scientific community and are responsive to the concerns of Arctic residents. We fully expect that these and other projects underway today in the Council will yield positive results in coming years.

WSSD an Opportunity
The Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development presents three excellent opportunities to pursue the Arctic Council's agenda.

• The WSSD is an opportunity to highlight globally the problems faced in the Arctic.
• It is also an opportunity to showcase the significant science-based work of the Council.
• Finally, we will have an opportunity to hold up the Arctic Council as an operational model for addressing environmental and sustainable development issues for the future.

In my limited time I would like to focus on the last of these -- the Arctic Council as an operational model for international cooperation on sustainable development. In September 2002, Johannesburg Summit likely will address questions of international governance, and I believe the Arctic Council's regional form of cooperation provides an excellent example to highlight.

Certainly, the Council's regional focus is an effective way to deal with the unique problems of the Arctic, and an effective way to make these problems known globally. We only need look at the results of last month's Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) to see how effectively the Arctic Council highlighted the POPs situation in the Arctic.

The Council works on the principle of cooperation. Priorities and program initiatives are developed without the operational impediments and costs of establishing a new permanent organization. Members of the Arctic Council are committed to creating the kind of policies, structures and institutions domestically which give us the ability to implement our sustainable development goals regionally. PAME's work in support of National Plans of Action to address land-based sources of marine pollution is an example of this principle.

The Council is also characterized by flexibility -- flexibility to adapt to new problems and priorities. The Council is developing new initiatives to improve human health, transportation infrastructure, freshwater fisheries management, reindeer husbandry, and ecological tourism. These new initiatives are the result of a transparent process of information sharing between all Arctic stakeholders, including governments.

Closing
The Arctic Council is a positive example of regional cooperation based on the principles of cooperation and flexibility that governments can call attention to as we prepare for Johannesburg. The United States looks forward to the next ten years of sustained cooperative achievement with all of its Arctic Council colleagues. Thank you.