The Arctic matters to the rest of the planet - as the driver of many of the world's climate and ocean systems, as the homeland of Indigenous Peoples who have inhabited the region for thousands of years, and as the site of some of the world's largest remaining intact ecosystems. At the same time, it is a place of rapid change. Ecosystems face increasing pressure from the combined effects of climate change, transboundary pollutants and increasing industrial development. Human societies across the Arctic are trying to respond to these changes in many ways.
From an international perspective, the Arctic - as a polar region - presents a special challenge. The Northern areas of the world encompasses huge land areas with little population, and only parts of the countries. Thus, it has not been recognized as a region in, for instance, multilateral environmental agreements.
UNEP is an official observer at the Arctic Council, a multi-lateral body established in 1996 composed of the eight Arctic nation states, six Indigenous Peoples organizations and about 30 state and non-state observers. While not governed by a treaty, the Arctic Council has made important contributions to the state of knowledge, especially on climate change (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment), human development (Arctic Human Development Report) and through influencing international negotiations that led to the Stockholm POPS Convention (see AMAP State of the Arctic Environment Reports).
The main roles and activites for the UNEP Key Polar Centre in the Arctic are to:
- represent UNEP in international cooperation, and to support UNEP on Arctic issues
- contribute to policy-relevant international and regional assessments on environment and sustainable development
- build capacity for environmental management
- facilitate and build partnerships to advance environmental issues
- communicate and inform, globally as well as in the Arctic - on environment and sustainable development
To carry out this work, the UNEP Key Polar Centre works closely with partners on the international level, such as the Arctic Council working groups and the University of the Arctic, with institutions in the UNEP family, with Indigenous Peoples organisations and with NGO partners - and many many more. See the links/partners for more information.
Major activities
- To assess and strengthen the role of the Arctic Region in Multilateral Enviromental Agreements (MEA) - an initiative in cooperation with the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region.
- International Polar Year (IPY) - Read more about activities and plans at the UNEP Key Polar Centre for the IPY on the dedicated page.
- Global Environment Outlook (GEO) and GEO Yearbooks - These global assessments represents the UNEP flagship reports on the current and future state of the environment. The UNEP Key Polar Centre has been leading the work on polar issues.
- Many Strong Voices (MSV) - a programme to build capacity in the Arctic and in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to ensure people's voices are heard in negotiating measures to reduce greenhouse gases and in developing ways to adapt to climate change. It will also raise awareness about the effects of climate change in the Arctic and the SIDS and increase understanding of needs and solutions and take practical measures on adaptation. These two regions represents places where the effects of climate change are currently threatening traditional livelihoods.
- Integrated ecosystem management and stakeholder relations - read more about the ECORA and the oil and gas support activities on the activities page.
- Vital Arctic Graphics - this overview of Arctic issues through maps, graphics and summary text was launched at the 2005 meeting of the UNEP Governing Council. The publication was widely distributed and CD-ROM and web versions were produced.
- Maps and Graphics on Arctic issues - the UNEP Key Polar Centre has prepared hundreds of scientific illustrations on sustainable development in the Arctic, this web-site collects these works, and is constantly expanded with new entries.
- Many more activities are listed on the activities page.