United States Resists Efforts to Have the Arctic Council Make Climate-Related Statement

• Published in: American Journal of International Law
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2019
• Subjects: Arctic; Rovaniemi; Arctic Council; Climate change
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ajil.2019.60; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0002930019000605

The Arctic Council convened for the eleventh time in early May 2019 in Rovaniemi, Finland, for a two-day conference. On May 7, the Arctic Council released a Joint Ministerial Statement that affirmed the desire of the eight member states to work together to face upcoming challenges but made no substantive commitments and no mention of climate change. In remarks to the Council, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed wariness about collective decision making and warned against potential effects of Chinese activity in the Arctic.