Arctic Council member states’ top diplomats briefed on working groups’ activities

FAIRBANKS /United States/, May 11. /TASS/. Foreign ministers from the Arctic Council member states have been briefed on the activities of the Council’s working groups. There are six working groups of the Arctic Council, including the Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP), Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), Emergency Prevention Preparedness and Response (EPPR), Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME), and the Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG). Working Group Management Boards are usually comprised of representatives of the Arctic Council member states’ governmental agencies and representatives of the permanent participants. The working groups draw up reports and various obligatory documents, as well as implement specific projects. Each of the groups prepared a presentation for the Arctic Council’s ministerial meeting covering its activities and achievements. The Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum set up in 1996, consists of Russia, Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. It is the main discussion platform concerning international cooperation in the Arctic. On Thursday, a meeting of the foreign ministers from the Arctic Council member states is taking place in Fairbanks, Alaska. Read more