The Foreign Service Journal, May 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2021 39 The Big Blue Oceans cover a large portion of the Arctic, and a vast majority of Arctic communities are shore-based but owe their livelihoods to ocean-based activities. The Arctic states therefore have a duty and responsibility to safeguard the Arctic Ocean, which the council’s working groups have significantly advanced through increased scientific knowledge and understanding of the marine environment. This focus on oceanic matters and the Arctic marine environment is one of the links between Iceland and the United States, as shown by the fact that the United States concentrated on the same two issues during its own chairmanship (2015-2017). Iceland has built on the work accomplished then; inter alia, the Arctic Council has launched a new platform for discussing Arctic marine- related topics: the Senior Arctic Officials Marine Mechanism. We hope that the SMM will become an annual gathering of marine leaders and experts under the auspices of the council, contributing to inform- ing senior Arctic officials’ work and enhancing circumpolar cooperation on the Arctic marine environment. Even though our focus has been, and will remain, the emerging and ongoing challenges climate change pres- ents, there are opportunities to be found, as well. The melting sea ice is gradually open- ing up new sea routes, giving better access to natural resources and prompting an increase in Arctic tourism. We already have regular sea routes between Iceland and four U.S. ports; one of those, Portland, Maine, is some- times called the United States’ eastern gateway to the Arctic. In 2014 the government of Iceland and the state of Maine signed a memorandum of understanding outlining a desire to increase cooperation in business development, transport, logis- tics and culture. It also called for further cooperation on such Arctic-related issues as environmental security and search- and-rescue operations. Evidently, there is real potential to build sustainable business opportunities in the Arctic, and for Iceland and the United States to strengthen our cooperation by building on these opportunities together. The New England Ocean Cluster in Portland, inspired by the Icelandic Ocean Cluster in Reykjavík, is a good example of an innovative “blue economy” consulting project creating new opportunities for cooperation. The aim of the “Ocean Cluster” groups is to connect people within the ocean economy, and to encourage an innovative and sustainable approach to real- izing economic opportunities. The “ocean cluster” concept has a direct link to work in the “blue bioeconomy” area, which focuses on the use and conversion of living aquatic resources into a wide variety of products and services such as food, feed, biobased materials and bioenergy. In Iceland, we have seen successful companies born out of this methodology. One of them has even developed a method for extracting enzymes from fish skin that is revolutionizing the treatment of chronic wounds. Sustaining Sustainability For the past quarter-century, sustain- able development has been at the heart of our collaboration in the Arctic Council and its six work- ing groups, where scientific data, traditional knowledge and local knowledge are used to balance and build a foundation for assess- ment and policy recommenda- tions to benefit communities in the Arctic. We are very conscious of the fact that the region is home to roughly 4 million people. Arctic inhabitants deserve a prosperous, sustainable future; and they deserve a say in shaping it. To achieve that, our chairmanship of the Arctic Council has focused on inclusive cooperation with its observers, as well as among the Arctic states and their Indigenous peoples’ councils, which are permanent participants. We are very pleased with the increas- ing emphasis on youth engagement demonstrated by the Arctic states and led by the permanent participants. At the ripe “old” age of 25, it is only fitting for the Arctic Council to celebrate its anniversary by exploring ways to engage youth in its work. Young people have a vested interest in the future of their planet, and their voices and perspectives need to be heard if we are to keep moving forward. Adversity and Resilience Along with sustainability, the resilience of Arctic communi- ties and their capacity to recover and restore themselves after Diagram of the structure of the Arctic Council. ARCTICCOUNCILSECRETARIAT