Finland will hold the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2017-2019. The Arctic Council is the leading cooperation forum of the Arctic States and Arctic indigenous people. The Council focuses on issues relating to sustainable development and environmental protection.
The key themes for Finland's Chairmanship are environmental protection, meteorological cooperation, communications and education and training.
The themes of communications and meteorological cooperation are directly related to the administrative branch of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Environmental protection is also closely linked with the activities within the branch.
The key objectives of the branch for the Chairmanship are related to seizing the business opportunities in the Arctic region in a sustainable manner, improvement of communications and marine safety in the Arctic region, and better utilisation of the weather and conditions data to support Arctic operations.
The Arctic Chairmanship rotates among the Arctic States (Finland, Iceland, Russia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and the USA), each of them assuming the lead position for two years at a time.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs coordinates the activities in collaboration with other ministries and various stakeholders.
For more information:
Director for Strategic Affairs Taina Pieski
tel. +358 295 34 2122
Ministerial Governance Department
