Many early environmental efforts of the Arctic Council had to do with pollution and environmental degradation. This focus made a lot of sense at the time, given serious degradation of the region due to nuclear and industrial waste, as well as Russia’s lack of environmental oversight at the fall of the USSR. Over time, these efforts have developed to include many aspects of environmental protection that are becoming more relevant as climate change shapes the landscape and biodiversity of the Arctic region. Biodiversity is one issue that has gained traction in the Arctic over the last few decades.
In terms of Arctic Council effectiveness in influencing the Arctic region, it is strictly in the form of soft law agreements. The Arctic Council, under its current state has limited ability to create legally binding agreements, which means it cannot mandate levels of protection if member countries don’t want to do it themselves. In this sense, the problem of shrinking Arctic biodiversity struggles from implementation via the Council. However, the AC has been able to contribute meaningfully to biodiversity protection in other ways. One of the most important is through monitoring and data collection. The Arctic Council has working groups for many environmental topics and one of these is biodiversity preservation. CAFF (Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna), the AC’s working group for biodiversity is a wealth of resources on species range, decline, regional trends of climate, population, and so many other indices. This information can be used by Arctic states’ governments to create policy for biodiversity preservation. The link between monitoring and decision making, however, still remains weak.
Another element of biodiversity preservation in the Arctic are Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). MEAs are legally binding but many states consider them to be soft law and apply them to varying degrees. Therefore, the effectiveness of these agreements in actually preserving biodiversity varies. The Convention on Biological Diversity is an important MEA that was ratified concurrently with the development of the Arctic Council. It was important for biodiversity in the Arctic because it linked conservation and sustainable use of resources. This is a common theme in the Arctic where the question of development, albeit sustainably, is at the forefront of state discourse.