Nikolaj Bock EEA and the Arctic

*5 are member countries in the Arctic Council (DEN, SWE, FIN, ICE, NOR) 6 are permanent observes in the Arctic Council (ES, FR, GE, NL, PL, UK) EU and Italy has applied for observer status in Arctic Council 32 Member countries* 6 Cooperating countries in Western Balkans Cooperation with Greenland: 2010: Environment 2012: Health Cooperation with Russia: 5 areas of environmental monitoring Arctic Council working groups Attending as ad-hoc observers Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks EEA is part of the SAON initiative

Providing data and information on state and outlook of Europe’s environment, including the Arctic Environmental Atlas of Europe (Short films) -Melting Ice (Greenland) -Reindeer Herding (Sami) -Ice Roads (Finland) -Waste (Greenland)

Cooperation with Greenland Cooperation agreements with Greenland: November 2010: Environment January 2012: Environment & Health Greenland has since 2011 participated in NFP/Eionet meetings Climate adaptation film Climate film for COP15 Waste management film (Greenland 2007) (Greenland 2009) (Greenland 2011)

Steps towards an EU Arctic Policy March 2008: Joint paper by the High Representative and the European Commission on Climate Change and Security October 2008: Resolution of the European Parliament November 2008: Communication of the European Commission on the European Union and the Arctic Region December 2009: Arctic Council Conclusions January 2010: European Parliament report on the High North February 2012: European Commission Arctic Progress report July 2012: Joint Communication on the Arctic region (progress and next steps) June 2013 (Expected): Arctic Council Conclusions

The EU and the Arctic Region, 3 main objectives: 1.Protecting and preserving the Arctic in unison with its people 2.Promoting sustainable use of resources 3.Contributing to enhanced International cooperation EEA supporting and contributing to environmental monitoring, networking and information systems and discussions on sustainable development. EU Arctic policy & EEA activities

EU support to SAON (Monaco Declaration) EEA supported SAON process EEA on SAON Board EEA will provide Arctic observation and information service on Eye on Earth Monitoring and Observing the Arctic

Developing a PolarWatch on Eye on Earth

Global drivers & mega trends that affect the Arctic: Climate change Population growth and migration patterns Growing demand for natural resources The state of the world economy Changing trade patterns/demand for new products/increasing purchasing power in e.g. Asia World prices on key commodities (oil, gas and minerals) Increasing unsustainable environmental pollution loads

Regional drivers that affect the Arctic: The rate of exploration of natural resources (hydrocarbons and minerals, forestry or fisheries) The safeguarding measures taken to protect the environment and ecosystems from such activities, including from shipping and tourism, land fragmentation, pollution loads, etc. The introduction of appropriate governance structures and measures to tackle the emerging challenges

The challenges facing the Arctic Climate Change (change in snow/ice cover, permafrost) Long range pollution (air/ocean currents) Exploitation or damage to natural resources Overharvesting of certain key fish stocks Impacts of infrastructure developments Land fragmentation Loss of biodiversity Pressure from increasing tourism Operational accidents in the oil and gas sector Overall quality of surface and marine waters Pollution from mining activities and metal ore processing plants Mismanagement of areas of Arctic forest and unsustainable logging practices

Potential tipping elements with direct impacts on Europe Source: EEA, 2010b

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