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 Download the report: Arctic Climate Change and Security Policy Conference: Final Report and Findings (pdf)
U.S. policymakers need to act quickly in order to save the Arctic, according to a report released June 24 by Dartmouth's Dickey Center for International Understanding, the Carnegie Endowment and the University of the Arctic (UArctic).
The report states that the accelerating pace of climate change,
increasing competition over resources, and new territorial claims are
creating pressures on the region, and offers recommendations for
corrective action.
See a notice about the report posted on the US Department of Homeland Security website.
Released at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in
Washington, D.C., the report is the culmination of discussions
coordinated by the UArctic Institute of Applied  Circumpolar Policy at
Dartmouth between several dozen international Arctic experts last
December. During the three days of meetings at Dartmouth, academic
scholars, policy makers, shipping and energy experts, and
representatives of indigenous peoples met for round-table discussions
on the Arctic. The aim was to bring cross-disciplinary insight to the
issues of science and policy; economics, resources, and development;
political and security issues; and governance and institutions.
"The
report has been greeted with enthusiasm by a wide range of experts who
have worked on issues related to the Arctic," said Barry Scherr,
Dartmouth's Provost and a member of the UArctic Board of Governors.
"Ken Yalowitz, Director of the Dickey Center, and Ross Virginia, who
directs the Institute of Arctic Studies, are to be congratulated for
making Dartmouth a major focal point for study of the Arctic region."
Two prominent Obama Administration officials, David
Balton, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. State Department's
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific
Affairs, and Julie Gourley, the Senior U.S. Arctic Official, participated in discussion of the report's findings.
The report states that the United States has environmental,
political, and security interests and responsibilities in the North and
it should play a key role in preserving the Arctic ecosystem. The
report makes the following recommendations:
- Create a sub-cabinet commission on global warming headed by the
Vice President to address the effects of climate change on the Arctic.
- Promote the Arctic Council as the principal international forum for addressing Arctic issues.
- Ratify
the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) immediately. The
UNCLOS provides a framework to adjudicate disagreements over borders
and territory claims, which could become more heated as global warming
facilitates access to resources.
- Support policy-relevant scientific research that can identify
critical first steps for policy makers and identify the costs of
inaction on the threat of global warming.
"Large-scale damage to the Arctic from transportation accidents,
energy development, fishing, and pollutants from the south pose greater
immediate threats than classic security issues. Existing emergency
response systems and contingency plans are not up to the task," the
report states.
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