The Future of Arctic Council Innovation: - Charting a Course for

The designations employed and the presentation of the material on the maps in this report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. [...] The Future of Arctic Council Innovation: Charting a Course for Working-Level Cooperation Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs | Harvard Kennedy School 1 Introduction On February 14, 2024, the Russian Federation announced that it would suspend its annual payments to the Arctic Council “until the resumption of real work in this format with the participation of all member countries.”1. [...] The current Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials, Morten Høglund, has stressed that “the Arctic Council is not dead,” but how can outside observers really know?3 The Arctic Council has previously been characterized as a “black box,” and the current absence of public information is feeding this reputation and leaving space for others to fill the void. [...] The Future of Arctic Council Innovation: Charting a Course for Working-Level Cooperation Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs | Harvard Kennedy School 5 Recommendations for Working-Level Cooperation The working level has always been the Arctic Council’s engine, where experts collaborate to execute the Council’s work related to environmental protection and sustainable development. [...] The Future of Arctic Council Innovation: Charting a Course for Working-Level Cooperation Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs | Harvard Kennedy School 7 Recommendations to Improve Extra-Institutional Cooperation There is more to Arctic governance than the operations of the Arctic Council.