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Improving the work of the Arctic Council: challenges and recommendations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 March 2021

Svein Vigeland Rottem Open the ORCID record for Svein Vigeland Rottem [Opens in a new window]
Svein Vigeland Rottem*
Affiliation:
Senior Research Fellow, Fridtjof Nansen Institute, P.O.Box 326, 1326Lysaker, Norway
*
Author for correspondence: Svein Vigeland Rottem, Email: svr@fni.no/www.fni.no
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Abstract

The Arctic Contaminants Action Programme (ACAP), originally intended to follow up the work of AMAP (the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme) on identifying the sources of pollution, became an official working group under the Arctic Council in 2006. ACAP has focussed on pollution from Russian sources, the main objective being to accelerate the reduction of national emissions of various environmental pollutants and climate forcers. Basically, ACAP initiates projects with a scientific basis in AMAP assessments of the health of the Arctic. The idea behind the creation of ACAP was to channel the work of the Arctic Council in a more practical direction and to improve the use of the knowledge produced by AMAP. ACAP is one of only two Council working groups not to have been specifically evaluated and analysed by external bodies and academics. This article undertakes a critical analysis of ACAP and argues that there are great potentials for improving its work. ACAP has established a forum where it has been possible to facilitate pilot projects aimed at limiting harmful emissions; this work should be strengthened.

Keywords

Arctic CouncilACAPExpert groupsMandateCoordinationCommunication
Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 57 , 2021 , e9
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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