Arctic Council Arctic Council The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic. Eight member countries constitute the council: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States as these are the eight countries with sovereignty over the lands within the Arctic Circle. Outside these, there are some observer states. The first step towards the formation of the Council occurred in 1991 when the eight Arctic countries signed the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS). The 1996 Ottawa Declaration established the Arctic Council as a forum for
Arctic Circle (organization) their commitments towards an accord, given the remaining progress that must be made before the conference. Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton, Philip Hammond, Al Gore and José Ángel Gurría have addressed the Assembly via video messages. The Arctic Circle Prize was awarded for the first time at the 2016 Arctic Circle Assembly to Ban Ki-moon, then-Secretary-General of the United Nations. In awarding the prize, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson explained that the prize recognized Mr. Ban’s leadership in international climate diplomacy, which he described as “an act of extraordinary statesmanship, courage and vision” given political opposition at the time he took up his