Arctic Policies - Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network

Canada

ARCTIC POLICY

Text(s)
Canada's Arctic and Northern Policy (September 2019), An infographic showing framework partners, goals, key milestones and next phase (September 2019)

Year of Publication
2009, 2010 (amd), 2019 (the newest Arctic and Northern Policy)

Website
Canada's Arctic and Northern Policy (September 2019)

Published by
Government of Canada, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians

Previous Policies:
Canada’s Northern Strategy: Our North, Our Heritage, Our Future, 2009, Statement on Canada’s Arctic Foreign Policy: exercising sovereignty and promoting Canada’s northern strategy abroad, 2010, Government of Canada-Canada and the circumpolar Arctic and Canada's Northern Strategy (archive)

The framework builds on 8 overarching and interconnected goals:

- Strong, sustainable, diversified and inclusive local and regional economies;
- Canadian Arctic and northern Indigenous peoples are resilient and healthy;
- The Canadian Arctic and North and its people are safe, secure and well-defended;
- Strengthened infrastructure that closes gaps with other regions of Canada;
- The rules-based international order in the Arctic responds effectively to new challenges and opportunities;
- Knowledge and understanding guides decision-making;
- Canadian Arctic and northern ecosystems are healthy and resilient;
- Reconciliation supports self-determination and nurtures mutually-respectful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

NOTES:
1. The Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians later changed into “Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC). Since 2017, it has been reorganized in to two new departments: Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.
2. In December 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a new Arctic Policy. It is expected to be released by 2019. This new Policy will replace the Canada’s Northern Strategy Our North, Our Heritage, Our Future and Statement on Canada’s Arctic Foreign Policy, and it has been co-developed in collaboration with Indigenous, territorial and provincial partners.
3. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, has released its position paper for the upcoming Canadian Arctic Policy: Development and Implementation of the Arctic Policy Framework, November 2018.

USA

ARCTIC POLICY

Text(s)
- 2009 National Security Presidential Directive 66/ Homeland Security Presidential Directive 25, Arctic Region Policy, amended by 2019 Department of Defense (DoD) Arctic Strategy
- Arctic Strategy (2020)
- A Blue Arctic: A Strategic Blueprint of the Arctic (2021)

Year of Publication
2013, 2019 (amd.), 2020, 2021

Website
- Department of Defence
- Department of the Navy
- The Department of the Air Force

Published by
Department of Defense, Department of Defence, The Department of the Air Force

Previous Policies:

The current Arctic Strategy updates the 2016 DoD Arctic Strategy. These documents build upon the 2009 National Security Presidential Directive 66/ Homeland Security Presidential Directive 25, Arctic Region Policy, and the 2013 National Strategy for the Arctic Region (NSAR).

Main Goals/objectives, as stated in the document:

Advance United States Security Interests – [The U.S.] will enable our vessels and aircraft to operate, consistent with international law, through, under, and over the airspace and waters of the Arctic, support lawful commerce, achieve a greater awareness of activity in the region, and intelligently evolve [U.S.’s] Arctic infrastructure and capabilities, including ice-capable platforms as needed. U.S. security in the Arctic encompasses a broad spectrum of activities, ranging from those supporting safe commercial and scientific operations to national defense.
Pursue Responsible Arctic Region Stewardship – [The U.S.] will continue to protect the Arctic environment and conserve its resources; establish and institutionalize an integrated Arctic management framework; chart the Arctic region; and employ scientific research and traditional knowledge to increase understanding of the Arctic.

Strengthen International Cooperation – Working through bilateral relationships and multilateral bodies, including the Arctic Council, we will pursue arrangements that advance collective interests, promote shared Arctic state prosperity, protect the Arctic environment, and enhance regional security, and we will work toward U.S. accession to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Law of the Sea Convention).

DoD must be able to quickly identify threats in the Arctic, respond promptly and effectively to those threats, and shape the security environment to mitigate the prospect of those threats in the future. The 2019 DoD Arctic strategy outlines three strategic ways in support of the desired Arctic end-state:
• Building Arctic awareness;
• Enhancing Arctic operations; and,
• Strengthening the rules-based order in the Arctic.

NOTES:

N/A

Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC)

ARCTIC POLICY

Text(s)
Inuit Arctic Policy - To establish a comprehensive Inuit Arctic Policy in Inuit circumpolar regions in regard to matters of economic, social, cultural, environmental as well as political concerns

Year of Publication
2010

Website
ICC

Published by
ICC

Previous Policies:
N/A

Main Goals/objectives, as stated in the document:

To establish a comprehensive Inuit Arctic Policy in Inuit circumpolar regions in regard to matters of economic, social, cultural, environmental as well as political concerns.
To achieve a broad consensus on the priorities, policies, and principles to be advanced in Inuit circumpolar regions, taking into account the significance of the Arctic and its resources to both present and future generations of northern peoples.
To encourage co-ordination of policy-making and decision-making in the international community, particularly in and among those states with Arctic jurisdictions and interests.
To ensure the survival of Inuit as a distinct people, and to integrate Inuit cultural values and concerns in all aspects of Arctic Policy, as appropriate.
To emphasize the importance of an economic base in the North, and the continuing right of Inuit to participate in the management and development of the Arctic and its resources.
To give due priority to improving the quality of life in Inuit communities and the right of Inuit to exercise adequate control over actions and activities significantly affecting their northern regions.
To protect the delicate Arctic environment, including marine and other resources upon which Inuit depend.
To devise principles for an Inuit Arctic Policy which not only ensures recognition and respect for Inuit rights and interests, but also protects the human and other fundamental rights and freedoms of all northern peoples.
To favour those policies and principles which foster peaceful diplomacy and the use of appropriate and safe technologies in circumpolar regions.
To promote international understanding and co-operation in Arctic matters through collaborative, co-operative research; informational, cultural, and educational exchanges; and international agreements.
To proclaim November 7th, the birth day of the ICC visionary and founder, Eben Hopson Sr., as “Inuit Day”, and all Inuit governments, agencies and communities should also be urged to proclaim annually this day as “Inuit Day” with appropriate ceremonies and celebrations

NOTES:
1. Two documents forerun and prepare the ground for the Inuit Arctic Policy: "A Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Sovereignty in the Arctic 2009” and the “Nuuk Declaration, 2010”
2. One year after the Inuit Arctic Policy, ICC released an additional document, addressing more specifically the issue of resource development in the Arctic: A Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Resource Development Principles in Inuit Nunaat 2011.

NOTES:
The IMO Polar Code is not a strategy or policy, but an international regulatory binding code to be respected by all ships navigating in Polar Waters (from signatories parties). The Code entered into force in 2017, taking into account the previous guidelines from 2010 where only recommendations and had no legally-binding effect. The IMO has the status of Observer within the Arctic Council.

Arctic Relevant Policies

Canada

Kingdom of Denmark

Finland

Iceland

Norway

Russian Federation

Sweden

USA

Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC)

The Saami Council

France

Germany

Italian Republic

Japan

The Netherlands

People's Republic of China

Poland

Republic of India

Republic of Korea

Republic of Singapore

Spain

Switzerland

United Kingdom

IMO

UN

WMO

European Union

Scotland

NATO

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