Organization
International, regional and national organizations involved in Arctic cooperation
Political organizations
Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic. The Council has been found in 1996 upon the initiative of Finland. It has eight member nations: Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.
Barents Euro-Arctic Council is the forum for intergovernmental cooperation on issues concerning the Barents Region. It has 6 member-states: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and European Commission. And 9 observer-states: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, UK and the USA.
The Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region is a biennial conference for parliamentarians representing the eight Arctic countries and the European Parliament. The Arctic indigenous peoples are permanent participants to the cooperation. Observers participate from governments and inter-parliamentary organizations as well as from observer states and relevant international organizations.
The Nordic Council is geo-political inter-parliamentary forum for co-operation between the Nordic countries that was established after World War II. In 1971, the Nordic Council of Ministers and intergovernmental forum, was established to complement the Council.
Northern Dimension (European Union initiative) – The Northern Dimension is a joint policy between EU, Russia, Norway and Iceland. The ND Policy was initiated in 1999 and renewed in 2006. The policy aims at providing a framework to: promote dialogue and concrete cooperation, strengthen stability, well-being and intensified economic cooperation, and promote economic integration, competitiveness and sustainable development in Northern Europe.
Financial organizations
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Nordic Environment Finance Corporation
Environmental Organizations
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
The World Conservation Union (IUCN)
World Wild Fund (Arctic programme)
Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS)
Circumpolar Conservation Union (CCU)
Socio-economic development of the Arctic
The Northern Forum is a non-profit, international organization composed of sub-national or regional governments from eight northern countries. Northern regions share characteristics that set them apart from other areas of the world. These include: economies based upon the extraction of natural resources; lack of internal capital resources; limited infrastructural development; harsh climates and vulnerable ecosystems; diverse and relatively strong indigenous cultures; and sparse populations.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Organizations on indigenous people rights
The following organizations unites national organization representatives that specialize on rights of indigenous people of the Arctic
Aleut International Association
Russian Association of Indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East
Gwich’in Council International
International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs
Arctic Circumpolar Route
Association of the World Reindeer Herders
Organizations studying the Arctic
International Arctic Sciences Committee
International Union for Circumpolar Health
Northern Research Network
University of the Arctic
The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (Russian Federation)
Arctic Institute of North America (Canada)
The British Network for Coastal Research (Great Britain)
Danish Institute for International Studies
French Polar Institute
The Fridtjof Nansen Institute
Institute of Universal History (Russian Federation)
The Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies
Moscow State Institute for International Relations
The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
The Norwegian Polar Institute
The Research Council of Norway
Swedish Defense Research Agency
The United States Arctic Research Commission
University of Tromsø (Norway)
National Institute for Polar Research (Japan)
The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (Germany)
Scott Polar Research Institute (Great Britain)
Polar Research Institute of China