The Arctic Council’s work on international conventions and climate agreements

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5.2.2 Work on environmental toxins in the Arctic Council

In the Arctic Council, it is particularly the AMAP and ACAP working groups that work on the issues of pollution and environmental toxins in the Arctic. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme Working Group AMAP According to AMAP’s strategic plan, one of the objectives is to ensure a robust circumpolar monitoring network that eiciently detects changes and negative trends throughout the Arctic region for a number of environmental factors – including contaminants, climate change and combinations of these. AMAP has also established an expert group on environmental toxins. AMAP prioritises the following issues in contaminants: • persistent organic pollutants POPs • heavy metals particularly mercury, cadmium and lead • radioactivity • acidiication and Arctic haze i.e. visible air pollution • contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons oil and gas pollution • combined efects of pollutants and other factors that afect both ecosystems and people in the Arctic 175 AMAP is an extension of the Arctic environmental protection cooperation from 1989 cf. AEPS and since the establishment of the Arctic Council in 1996 has produced several reports on pollution and contaminants in the Arctic and how this afects people and animals living in the Arctic. Table 3 provides an overview of AMAP’s key reports in this context and the manner in which the reports are referred to in the ministerial declarations. Table 3 AMAP’s work on contaminants in the Arctic and discussion at Ministerial Meetings Ministerial declaration Type of report and contents Report recommendations adopted at Ministerial Meeting 1998 Report on POPs, heavy metals, radioactivity, acidiication and impact of environmental toxins on nature and humans The Iqaluit Declaration, 1998 2002 Updating of data and information about POPs, heavy metals, radioactivity and impact on human health The Inari Declaration, 2002 2006 Updating of data and information on acidify- ing pollutants in the Arctic The Salekhard Declaration, 2006 2009 Updating of data and information about POPs, radioactivity and human health Only generally, no mention of this update explicitly Tromsø, 2009 2011 Mercury General support for efforts to establish an international agreement on mercury Nuuk, 2011 2013 Acidiication of the oceans Kiruna, 2013 Source: AMAP’s list of reports and studies on pollution in the Arctic and the ministerial declarations AMAP’s irst report is a status report which established a basis for knowledge about pollutants throughout the Arctic. Later studies have concentrated on updating know- ledge of environmental toxins and reports on speciic topics such as mercury. Many parties have pointed out that this work has been of great importance for knowledge about pollutants in the Arctic. 176 175 Interviews with AMAP on 28 February 2012 and 13 June 2013 and www.amap.no. 176 In addition to Norwegian authorities, the European Science Foundation pointed out the same.