| Summary: | With no ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council scheduled in 2008, regional activities relevant to Arctic environmental protection occurred primarily through the Arctic Council's meetings of senior Arctic officials (SAOs) and six working groups, the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AM AP), the Arctic Council Action Plan to Eliminate Pollution of the Arctic (ACAP), Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME), Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR), and the Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG). Documentation from the SAO meetings and working groups may be found at the Council's website (). Other notable international activities included: an Arctic Ocean conference involving coastal state representatives and resulting in the Ilulissat Declaration; the eighth Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region; a communication from the European Commission on the Arctic region; a new emergency response agreement for the Barents Euro-Arctic region; and efforts within the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to revise the Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice-Covered Waters.
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