The term of Arctic comes from the Greek word arktos, meaning bear, referring to the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, both located near Polaris, which is the bright spot more visible and closer to Polo North. This meaning, at the same time, is also motivated by the presence of white polar animals in the region, as the type in the picture. But, what more we can know about the Arctic? Are government interests and international conflicts in this area? What kind of decisions is being taken by the states and what are the countries involved in this task? Is there any king of international governance which all matters relating to the region bordering the north pole of our planet are subjected to it? Yes, there is one. It is called the Arctic Council.
The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum that brings together the eight states bordering the Arctic region, USA, Canada, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, with the aim of resolving the common interests and concerns that face, such a sustainable development, climate change, research and supervision of the Arctic, through cooperation and coordination actions. Its origin is on the Strategy for Environmental Protection, signed in 1991 by the eight Arctic states. However, it was the Ottawa Declaration of 1996 which formally established the Arctic Council by appointing those eight countries as members of it, a range of indigenous and local residents as permanent participants and a broad amalgam of international agencies and non-governmental organizations as official observers.
The Council’s work is taking place at meetings in a coordinated way and through the cooperation among five working groups and various programs and action plans. It has a chairman and a secretary, skills that rotate every two years among the eight nations. The Secretariat is responsible for overall coordination of the activities, organizes meetings, distributes reports and all the necessary documents for the Council’s work and this website’s maintenance (http://www.arctic-council.org/) The President, meanwhile, once he has finished the cycle of two years, organize a special meeting at the ministerial level to balance the Council’s work, attended by representatives of coastal states in the figure of a Foreign Minister of Northern Affairs and the Environment. As regards the regular Council meetings, these take place every six months, in which senior representatives of individual member states governments, called Senior Arctic Officials, are present. Along with them, representatives of Arctic indigenous communities and official observers participate too.
The Arctic region, is a wonderful natural landscape and a region that comprises an exotic flora and fauna, various animals and humans living there, as if it were a particular world, being detached from the consumer societies of the XXI century, it has the downside of being an area for the greed of power and the fight of countries due to the exploration of wealth. It is a complex region, both geographically and socio-political. Interests of different countries confront their respective governments to manage it.
It is imperative, therefore, an international organization especially created to resolve conflicts that beat the region nowadays and analyzed below.
Whereas in the past the Arctic had little interest by the states, recent research has shown that the area holds one third of global energy and mineral reserves. Accordingly, as some experts expect, the Arctic Ocean may become a major focus of conflict in the international arena. They predict even a potential “Cold War” by the unhealthy desire of states to gain control of the gas fields, oil and coal, gold and diamonds found there.
In addition to the coastal states, other external, non-coastal states, wish to participate in the distribution of potential wealth that has been recently discovered. One of the most active countries in that sense, it is China, who currently maintains cooperative ties with Norway for the exploitation of the northern areas. It is also concerned, due to melting of polar ice that beats the area, in the establishment of routes in its northwest part, for faster trade and transportation with Europe and America. However, there are countries that have spoken out against the intrusion of such states in the Arctic, as in the case of Russia, who has considered the possibility of military security in the region to defend their legitimate interests, while a coastal state.
In conclusion, we hope that the Arctic council be effective and that it will adopt appropriate measures for preventing conflicts and ensuring a peaceful exploitation of the Arctic, as a part o a real sustainable development. We must demand accountability for governments in this regard, especially local residents. United Nations, also involved with the process and last bastion of hope for the implementation of the guidelines for preservation and conservation of Arctic territory, should take appropriate measures. Climate change is a reality in the same way that the melting in the Arctic is a reality and disturbances in the flora and fauna are also. Humanity has to be aware that have enough technology to preserve all that is part of the Earth, to which is inextricably bound.
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