Without action, Arctic faces change

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS SERVICE

The Arctic environment and its inhabitants are at risk and may be subject to severe change unless decision-makers act to curb climate change, contaminants, and other forms of pollution, warns a report, Arctic Environment: European perspectives, published jointly this week by the United Nations Environment Programme and the European Environment Agency.

“Governments, regulators, indigenous peoples and the private sector need to work together to manage the Arctic’s natural resources and use them responsibly and equitably,” said the director of the EEA, Jacqueline McGlade.

The report’s action plan includes a focus on sustainable development.

“The contributions that the indigenous peoples living in the High North and the Arctic can make to this process, and the role they plan in the stewardship of the region, are of key importance for the implementation of the new plan,” says the report’s introduction.

The release of the report prompted environmentalists to urge the European Union to lobby Russia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions and exploit its oil and gas in a sustainable manner. They also called for more EU money for Arctic research.