SAO Chair Vincent Rigby has spoken about the major initiatives of the Canadian chairmanship of the Arctic Council implemented at the moment and plans for the upcoming ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council, where Canada will present the most outstanding achievements made during the chairmanship, which this year moves to the United States (2015-2017).
Mr. Regby, among all the initiatives of the Arctic Council has highlighted the creation of the Arctic Council economic and independent structure that opens "excellent opportunities for Arctic cooperation between business, localized in the North, and will facilitate the exchange of best practices." He also stressed the importance of the other priority areas of work for Canada, such as the inclusion of traditional knowledge in the work of the Arctic Council, as well as the strengthening of the Arctic Council as a whole, saying:
"The Arctic Council is successfully active in many areas, including areas such as the prevention of oil spills, scientific cooperation and the problem of black carbon and methane in the Arctic. On the basis of research Arctic Council produces concrete and practical recommendations; he turns to the organization, more action-oriented, and not only for research and evaluation. "
As an example, he mentioned developing a plan to implement the recommendations of research in the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment, the results of the Working Group CAFF (Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna) recently published a landmark scientific report.
Chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials speaker concluded by stressing the importance of continuity in the transition of authority from the chairmanship of Canada to the United States, which will take place in April 2015.
Tromso is the permanent location of the Arctic Council Secretariat.