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Obtaining Access to the SDWG Members' Area
Access to some documents is limited to participants of the Arctic Council, its working groups and expert bodies. To receive a password for the Members' Area, please see How to Register.
Meeting Registration & Meeting Documents
Already an SDWG member? Please click LOGIN, and enter your user name and password to access the Members' Area.
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The Arctic CouncilThe Arctic Council Declaration was formally adopted in Ottawa, Canada in September,1996 by its eight member states, namely Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America. The working groups of the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS): AMAP, CAFF, EPPR and PAME were integrated within the Council at the AEPS Ministerial meeting held in Alta, Norway in June 1997.
The Council is a high level intergovernmental forum to provide a mechanism to address the common concerns and challenges faced by the Arctic governments and the people of the Arctic. The main activities of the Council focus on the protection of the Arctic environment and sustainable development as a means of improving the economic, social and cultural well-being of the peoples of the circumpolar north.
The category of Permanent Participant provides for the active participation and full consultation with the Arctic indigenous representatives within the Arctic Council. Originally, there were three international indigenous peoples' organizations (The Inuit Circumpolar Conference, the Saami Council, and the Russia Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North). The Aleut International Association, the Arctic Athabaskan Council and the Gwich'in Council International have also now been admitted as Permanent Participants. A number of non-arctic states, inter-governmental and inter-parliamentary organizations and non-governmental organizations have the status of Observers.
The Council meets at the ministerial level biennially. The Chair and Secretariat of the Council rotates every two years among the eight Arctic States. Canada chaired the Arctic Council from its inauguration in 1996 through to the first Ministerial meeting in Iqaluit, Nunavut in September, 1998.The United States of America served as Chair from September,1998 until the conclusion of the Ministerial meeting in Barrow, Alaska in November, 2000.Finland assumed the Chair for the period November, 2000 until the conclusion of the Ministerial meeting in Inari, Finland in October, 2002. Iceland is the current Chair through to the Ministerial meeting planned for November, 2004. Last Updated: 2011-11-22
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