Conference Report Now Available
Arctic Climate Change and Security Policy Conference
Dickey Center for International Understanding, Carnegie Endowment, and
the University of the Arctic
To download the report, please click on the "Joint Report Calls for
Environmental Security in the Arctic" link at:
http://dickey.dartmouth.edu/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
For further information please contact:
Latarsha Gatlin
Phone: 603-646-3661
Email: latarsha.gatlin [at] dartmouth.edu
The Dickey Center for International Understanding, the Carnegie
Endowment, and the University of the Arctic announce the availability of
a conference report: Arctic Climate Change and Security Policy
Conference. The conference was held 1-3 December 2008 at Dartmouth
College in Hanover, New Hampshire.
According to the report, U.S. policymakers need to act quickly in order
to save the Arctic. 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.
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 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; and
- 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.
To download the report, please click on the "Joint Report Calls for
Environmental Security in the Arctic" link at:
http://dickey.dartmouth.edu/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
For further information please contact:
Latarsha Gatlin
Phone: 603-646-3661
Email: latarsha.gatlin [at] dartmouth.edu