U.S. lays out its ambitions for leadership in the Arctic Climate, marine conservation, and renewable energy priorities as U.S. ascends to chair of Arctic Council By Carolyn Gramling

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he United States plans to launch an ambitious Arctic agenda next week as it begins a 2-year stint as chair of the Arctic Council, an eight-nation group that aims to foster cooperation on research and policy in the rapidly changing polar region. Concerns about the Arctic have escalated since the first U.S. chairmanship from 1998 to 2000. This time, officials say they will emphasize the need to take action on climate change, expand marine conservation, and

of the International Arctic Program at the Ocean Conservancy in Washington, D.C. But implementation is another matter, he says, because the recommendations are “not always business-friendly and politically palatable.” The council was created in 1996 by the “Arctic 8” nations that claim territory above the Arctic Circle—Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Russia, Sweden, Norway, and the United States. Early on, it became known for producing detailed reports, some with “pretty specific recommendations,” says Fran Ulmer, head of the U.S.

ince). The U.S. agenda, announced in October, includes a call for nations to enhance studies of climate-related processes such as the deposition of tiny particulates known as black carbon, which is accelerating the warming and melting of the region; emissions of methane, a potent warming gas, from permafrost and the seabed; and the acidification of the Arctic Ocean. The United States also wants to make progress on creating an Arctic network of marine protected areas and equipping Arctic villages with renewable energy sources. The list marks “probably the most forward-leaning, ambitious program that’s been proposed [for] the chairmanship of Arctic Council,” said Admiral Robert Papp, a former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard who is now the Obama administration’s special representative for the Arctic, at a March event at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, D.C. Papp and others also hope to use the position to remind Americans that the United States is an Arctic nation with a big stake in the region’s future.

U.S. seeks more research on soot particles that are accelerating melting on Greenland’s ice sheet (left) and methane bubbling from frozen Arctic lakes (right).

promote renewable energy. “They’ve laid out a very ambitious, good agenda,” says Lisa Speer, director of the International Oceans Program at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C. She and others say the U.S. emphasis on climate will come as a marked contrast to outgoing chair Canada, which downplayed the issue and focused on economic development for indigenous people. But some observers warn against lofty expectations, noting that the council doesn’t issue rules, only recommendations for action by the member governments. The group is often very good at identifying solutions, says Whit Sheard, director 270

Arctic Research Commission in Anchorage, Alaska, and the State Department’s special adviser on Arctic science and policy. But in recent years, she says the council has begun to broker binding agreements. A 2011 pact, for instance, focused on coordinating search and rescue operations, while a 2013 deal dealt with responding to oil spills. Negotiations on a third agreement, on international cooperation in Arctic research, are nearing completion, she says (see Editorial, p. 263). The United States hopes to add to that record after it takes the gavel at a 24 to 25 April ministerial meeting in Iqaluit, Nunavut (Canada’s northernmost prov-

“The chairmanship is falling at a key time,” Speer notes. Climate change is having an increasingly noticeable impact on Arctic ecosystems, industry is ramping up interest in the region, and nations have been jostling to stake territorial claims. Against that backdrop, efforts to forge agreements on marine conservation, for example, “could really break new ground,” Speer says. “A regional seas agreement combined with a network of protected areas throughout the Arctic could be a huge legacy” left by a U.S. leadership team. But the clock is ticking. “Two years isn’t much time,” Speer says. “I hope they’ll hit the ground running.” ■ sciencemag.org SCIENCE

17 APRIL 2015 • VOL 348 ISSUE 6232

Published by AAAS

PHOTOS: (LEFT TO RIGHT) HENRIK EGEDE LASSEN/ALPHA FILM; KEVIN HAND, NASA JET PROPULSION LABORATORY

ARCTIC POLICY

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