Global Wake-up Call from Tromsø

The official Arctic Council meeting starts in Norway’s Arctic capital Tromsø today, but many of the Foreign Ministers and delegates, meet already Tuesday and discussed the impacts of melting ice in Antarctica, the Arctic and mountain areas worldwide. The conference Melting Ice: Regional Dramas, Global Wake-Up Callwas co-hosted by Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, while the main star-speaker was Nobel Peace Prize winner and former US Vice President Al Gore.

- There is indeed a risk that we will be among the last to live in a time of bountiful ice and snow; but such a future is not inevitable. I sincerely believe that today will mark one important step towards a different future, one where longing for the first winter’s snow remains a basic part of the human experience, Foreign Minister Støre said during his opening speach of the conference.

On behalf of Norway, Foreign Minister Støre will at today’s Arctic Council meeting end the Norwegian two and a half year long chairmanship of the council. Denmark takes over the chairmanship for the coming next two years.

Denmark is - through its administration of Greenland, one of the countries in the world that will be most affected by climate changes. Earlier in April, BarentsObserver.com reported that melting of the Greenland ice sheet contributes more to rising sea level than previously assumed.

There are also serious worries about the impact of climate changes in the Barents Sea area. BarentsObserver.com reported last week that the temperature in the air over the Barents Sea was four degree Celsius warmer than average this winter.

From Russia, both Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov will participate at the Arctic Council meeting. A pre-statement from the Russian Ministry says Moscow is gratified by the development of international cooperation in the Arctic and supports the further strengthening of key regional multilateral intergovernmental organizations, the Arctic Council and the Barents Euro-Arctic Council.

Moscow says the upcoming session will have special significance in conditions of a rapidly evolving Arctic situation owing to climate change and its consequences, greater international cooperation in the Arctic, and a sharp increase in attention to it in the world.

Sergey Lavrov is also planning to submit the proposals of Russia on a number of new concrete projects of the Council. Later this year, in October, Lavrov invites his colleges from the Barents member countries to Murmansk for the Ministerial Barents Council meeting. Murmansk and Tromsø are friendship cities.