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According to SDWG’s website, over 30 reports of varying scope
293
dealing with many disciplines and areas under SDWG’s mandate, such as health, gender equality, general
living conditions, language, economic aspects in the Arctic, climate change and resource management isheries, reindeer herding and mining have been prepared.
The reports also contain recommendations to member states on measures to strengthen eforts for indigenous peoples.
According to the former head of SDWG 2011–2013, the span of their projects is too wide. Reference was also made in this context to the diiculty of seeing a clear
connection between SDWG’s own projects, also limited to those currently under way. All the projects, however, raise issues relating to human conditions, which is in line
with its intention. The fact that SDWG’s projects are now too broad, is also conirmed by Kankaanpää’s and Young’s study. It shows that respondents believe that SDWG
generally has little signiicance, and that the number of small and little-related projects must be reduced. The review of the ministerial declarations from the period
1998–2013 shows that very few of the reports and associated recommendations regarding indigenous peoples are addressed at ministerial meetings for details, see
Annex 8.
In interviews, the Ministry of Foreign Afairs related
294
that SDWG is the working group that faces the biggest challenges. This working group has a broad mandate,
since it deals with social science issues that can be diicult to deine. The Ministry of the Environment and the Arctic Council Secretariat also pointed out that the Arctic
Council has carried out little speciic study of indigenous peoples.
295
The Ministry of Foreign Afairs and the Secretariat nevertheless emphasise that through SDWG the Arctic Council has initiated a major project, EALÁT, which
addresses the challenges of reindeer husbandry in the Arctic for review, see Annex 8. The Ministry of Foreign Afairs also pointed out that SDWG is doing important
work on, for example, compiling comparable statistics for the entire Arctic region, including a number of health indicators.
In an interview, the Sami Parliament stated that, in their opinion, SDWG is function- ing well, but they stress that it is important to strengthen the status of this working
group. The Sami Parliament feels that SDWG does not have the same status in the Arctic Council as the other working groups.
7.2 General information on indigenous participation in Arctic Council projects
All of the Arctic Council’s working groups state that indigenous organisations are always welcome to attend working group meetings, projects and other activities.
The Saami Council states that it is well included in both the Arctic Council in general and in the working groups.
296
The Ministry of Foreign Afairs stated in an interview that it experiences cooperation between member states and indigenous organisations
in the Arctic Council as very constructive.
297
The Sami Parliament, however, noted that the actual participation of the six indigenous organisations is too weak. The Ministry of Foreign Afairs, Saami Council,
Sami Parliament and several others pointed out that there are not suicient funds to
293 The size and scope of the reports vary – some are summaries from professional symposia, while others are major studies of several hundred pages.
294 Interview with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 13 September 2012. 295 Interview with the Ministry of the Environment on 26 August 2013.
296 Email with attachments dated 24 June 2013 from the Saami Council. 297 Interview with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 9 February 2012.
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ensure the participation of indigenous organisations in all activities of the working groups. Both the Ministry of Foreign Afairs and the Saami Council pointed out that
the participation of indigenous peoples should have been included as part of the funding for each project.
298
The Ministry of Foreign Afairs also noted that each state should be responsible for the basic funding of their own indigenous peoples.
Several parties point out that participation in the working groups is also a matter of having suicient knowledge. The Arctic Council’s working groups are involved in a
number of technical areas requiring special knowledge, and indigenous organisations may not have suicient funds to recruit technical expertise that can contribute to the
work of the various working groups.
299
It can also be a matter of priority between the Arctic Council’s responsibilities and their own commercial interests.
300
When the Arctic Council was established, the Ottawa Declaration referred to the importance of traditional knowledge possessed by indigenous peoples. The Saami
Council and the Sami Parliament believe that the Arctic Council has not followed this up well enough. The Ministry of the Environment also noted that the integration of
traditional knowledge can be demanding.
Annex 8 provides a description of what the Arctic Council has worked on in the indigenous peoples’ area. In the description, the emphasis is on what is highlighted in
the ministerial declarations, and the status of the Norwegian Sami within the diferent areas.
298 Interview with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 9 February 2012. 299 Saami Council, Sami Parliament, AMAP and SDWG.
300 Interview with SDWG on 10 June 2013.
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8 Assessments
The High North is Norway’s most important strategic priority area, and the Arctic rep- resents a signiicant part of the overall High North policy. While ensuring sustainable
development in the Arctic is primarily a national responsibility, several of the chal- lenges require common solutions across the Arctic states. Nationally, there is broad
consensus that Arctic issues that require international solutions should preferably be resolved through the Arctic Council, cf. Recommendation 236 S 2012‒2013.
According to the Ottawa Declaration, the Arctic Council provides a means for pro- moting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic states in areas
where they have common interests. This is particularly true of sustainable develop- ment and environmental protection.
A large number of recommendations, including from the member states, are discussed through the Arctic Council. These recommendations are not binding under interna-
tional law. Norway’s work on issues related to the Arctic is governed by international law obligations and national targets independent of the Arctic Council. However, at a
political level, Norway undertakes to follow up recommendations raised in the Arctic Council’s ministerial declarations.
8.1 The Arctic Council has provided knowledge about the environment in the Arctic
The audit shows that the Arctic Council has succeeded in many areas. Since it was established in 1996, the Arctic Council has evolved to become an important body for
the accumulation of knowledge about the Arctic in ever more areas. The Arctic Council helps to align and strengthen the knowledge base in the Arctic by document-
ing the state of the environment, comparing data and establishing a common under- standing of the environmental challenges and actions that must be taken. This is
important in eforts to ensure sustainable development of the Arctic. The Arctic Council has also been important in advancing knowledge about the health of indige-
nous peoples in the Arctic.
The knowledge obtained through the Arctic Council has been used in the development of international conventions. Through documentation of the efects of long-range
pollution in the Arctic, the Arctic Council has played an integral role in the develop- ment of global and regional mechanisms for limiting emissions of pollutants and
heavy metals. Knowledge about climate change and biodiversity in the Arctic has also been an important contribution to the work on the relevant international agreements,
although it cannot be said that the Arctic Council has been instrumental in their development.
8.2 The Arctic Council has helped to strengthen cooperation in the Arctic
Through its position as the only body that unites all the Arctic states, the Arctic indigenous groups and a large number of observers, including several key states, the
Arctic Council can play a signiicant role in shaping the development of management solutions in the Arctic areas. Through the Arctic Council, the Arctic states have
presented recommendations on how the Arctic should be managed. Particularly important is the recognition among Arctic Council members and observers that the
