Date

Five-Year Action Plan and Re-launch of Project Website
Many Strong Voices Project
Arctic and Small Island Developing States

For further information, please go to:
http://www.manystrongvoices.org

Or contact:
John Crump
Polar Issues Coordinator, UNEP/GRID-Arendal (Ottawa)
Email: john.crump [at] grida.no
Cell: 613-255-3840

Or:
Ilan Kelman
Senior Research Fellow, CICERO (Oslo)
Email: ilan.kelman [at] cicero.uio.no
Cell: +47-4101-1951


Representatives of Arctic communities and Small Island Developing States
(SIDS) announce the release of a five-year action plan and a re-launch
of the website for the Many Strong Voices (MSV) project. The action plan
links research and advocacy and outlines how to improve the skills and
knowledge, and support the efforts of people in the areas suffering the
most from climate change. The action plan coincides with the re-launch
of the project website: http://www.manystrongvoices.org.

MSV is a collaborative program with the goal of promoting the
well-being, security and sustainability of coastal communities in the
face of climate change by bringing Arctic and SIDS nations together to
take action on mitigation and adaptation. The MSV program is made up of
a consortium of partners from approximately 20 Arctic and SIDS nations.

Work on the MSV project was funded over the last 14 months primarily by
the Norwegian government. With input from participants in more than 16
Arctic and island countries, the action plan includes plans to push for
deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions through the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It also reviews past
and ongoing climate change research in SIDS, and provides an outline for
an assessment of climate change vulnerability and adaptation across SIDS
that fills knowledge gaps and seeks to learn from similar scientific
work conducted in the Arctic. Both the program action plan and the
assessment outline emphasize the particular need identified by
participants to include local and indigenous partners and knowledge.

Among the partners in MSV are the Inuit Circumpolar Council, the Arctic
Athabascan Council, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre
(CCCCC), the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Climate
Change & Energy Programme, Foundation for International Environmental
Law and Development (FIELD), the Climate Law and Policy Project (USA),
the Conservation Society of Ponipeh, Federated States of Micronesia,
Nature Seychelles, the WWF South Pacific Programme, New Zealand Tourism
Research Institute (NZTRI), the International Institute for Environment
and Development (IIED), the Organization of American States, Department
of Sustainable Development, the Overseas Countries and Territories of
the European Union (OCTA), and the United Nations Environment Programme.

For further in formation, please go to the project website:
http://www.manystrongvoices.org

Or contact:
John Crump
Polar Issues Coordinator, UNEP/GRID-Arendal (Ottawa)
Email: john.crump [at] grida.no
Cell: 613-255-3840

Or:
Ilan Kelman
Senior Research Fellow, CICERO (Oslo)
Email: ilan.kelman [at] cicero.uio.no
Cell: +47-4101-1951