The arctic region and its native peoples will soon be able to count on support from the EU to tackle climate change and focus on sustainable development, said EU Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella in Tromso, Norway, on Monday 23 January, where he was attending the eleventh Arctic Frontiers conference.
He was speaking in a panel session on the blue-green arctic economy, where he unveiled the EU’s April 2016 strategy for an integrated policy covering the environment and maritime, scientific and technological issues, in order to provide a more joined-up framework for action (see EUROPE 11662, 11541).
The Commissioner said that climate change in the Arctic was a real cause for concern and new bad news arrived in this regard every year. He said this is why the EU has made a commitment to the Arctic, adding: ‘With the Paris Agreement, the world has promised to combat climate change. With the Sustainable Development Goals, we have pledged to use shared resources and our oceans responsibly. Now it is time to make it happen.’ He said the European Commission ‘will work with Finland as the incoming chair of the Arctic Council to jointly organise a high-level event on the EU Arctic policy in Finland in June.’ (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)