rir · H3B58 · 2015-05-05 00:00:00 — The Danish Defence has stated that it could have performed the task more effectively. Rigsrevisionen finds it important that – based on an ongoing assessment of the pollution risk – the Danish Defence monitors and operates a system of preventive control to ensure that ships sailing in waters comply with the environment rules. In addition – in the light of the increase in traffic – Rigsrevisionen finds the Ministry of the Environment and the should jointly assess whether the follow-up on the environment order can be strengthened. The Danish Defence has from initiated preventive control of ships sailing in Greenlandic waters. The Danish Defence has not yet calculated the pollution risk in the Arctic parts of the Realm. The Danish Defence also has no overview of whether the environmental response equipment that is located in can be used in the Arctic. Finally, although the Arctic Command is responsible for combating pollution, it has no staff trained for this task. The Danish Defence has initiated an analysis of the threats to the environment in the waters around which can be used to calculate the risk of pollution. The Danish Defence expects this analysis to be completed by the end of 2014. Rigsrevisionen considers it important that the Danish Defence uses this analysis to assess the need for control measures to enforce the environment order and determine the amount of equipment needed. A pdf of the report can be found at the following link: ARKTISKA RÅDET – VAD KAN GÖRA FÖR ATT MÖTA RÅDETS UTMANINGAR The Office of the Auditor General of investigated the Norwegian authorities work with the , Council recommendations and matters concerning the intergovernmental work in the Norwegian authorities highlight that the is the leading political body for Arctic issues and the most important forum for addressing common challenges. The purpose of the audit was to evaluate the Norwegian authorities work with the and illustrate how the authorities are dealing with the areas cited as key by the through the Councils recommendations to the member states. The audit also included matters concerning the intergovernmental work in the . The methods used in the audit included analysis of documents and reports, written questions, quantitative data and interviews. The audit period mainly covers the period from when the was established in 1996 until 2014. has helped strengthen cooperation in the Arctic and increase knowledge about key issues, particularly the environment and climate change in the Arctic. The organisation of the is impractical and the management of the work is inadequate in terms of priorities, funding and reporting. has not adequately facilitated participation by indigenous peoples in the Councils work. has helped strengthen cooperation in the Arctic and increase knowledge about key issues, particularly the environment and climate change in the Arctic As the only cooperative body in the Arctic with members from all the Arctic states, the has played an important role in strengthening cooperation and interaction between the Arctic states and the Arctic indigenous peoples in areas of common interest. In the OAGs opinion, the member states help uphold and develop the management of the Arctic through the . It is particularly important that the member states and recognise the significant international regulations applicable in the Arctic. Furthermore, under the initiative of the Arctic states, two legally binding agreements on, respectively, search and rescue and oil spill response in the Arctic, have been negotiated. In the OAGs opinion, these types of agreements can be important in underscoring the importance of the , and for further strengthening the management regime of the Arctic. This is especially true if the agreements negotiated through the Council help to reinforce existing agreements or concern areas where international regulations of relevance to the Arctic are lacking. The audit shows that the has evolved into a body for accumulating considerable knowledge in ever more areas. It is particularly important that this knowledge contributes to a common understanding of the challenges in the Arctic, and what measures should be taken. Based on this knowledge the Council has given a large number of recommendations to parties including the member states. While the recommendations are not binding under international law, it is, in the opinion of the OAG, important that the Arctic states together – including through the Council – can show that they take responsibility for ensuring sustainable development in the Arctic. The audit also shows that the knowledge obtained by the has been used in input on the further development of general international cooperation and international conventions in different areas. The organisation of the is impractical and the management of the work is inadequate in terms of priorities, funding and reporting Since 1996, there has been an ongoing discussion in the Arctic Council about the need to change the organisational structure so that the Council can become a more effective body. The current organisation of the Council is essentially a continuation of the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS) from 1991. However, the work now includes a far broader range of issues than it did when it was established in 1996. The audit also shows that the working groups function very differently. The audit shows that within the existing organisational structure the has made changes to improve coordination and communication between the working groups. The audit shows that the does not have a strategy for steering the technical and financial resources towards long-term goals. The working groups two- year work plans are approved at the Ministerial Meetings after discussion by the SAOs. The premise of the work is largely determined by the working groups themselves. Such independence can be positive, but in the opinion of the OAG, it must be assessed at the same time against the scientific gain and the huge financial resources spent in the . At mid-2014, between 80 and 90 projects are in progress under the auspices of the , and the overall assessments behind the initiation of so many projects are often unclear. Even though small projects may also be important in knowledge and collaboration in research and management, and only a few of them form the basis for recommendations in the ministerial declarations. ARKTISKA RÅDET – VAD KAN GÖRA FÖR ATT MÖTA RÅDETS UTMANINGAR the high number of projects and limited resources, the OAG believes there is a need for stronger prioritisation of working group efforts. The audit shows that there has been agreement on strengthening the financial mechanisms of the Council since its . Nevertheless, there has been a lack of predictability in the funding of working group secretariats, projects and participation of indigenous peoples organisations. Since 2003, there have been efforts to establish a funding mechanism – – to ensure funding for the highest priority projects in the . The funding mechanism became operational from the fall of 2014. However, the scheme will only cover a small part of the activities of the . In the OAGs opinion, it is a weakness that the does not have more predictable funding of the Councils organization and projects. It also emerges from the audit that the does not have an overview of its use of resources, although efforts are under way to develop a system to resolve this matter. In the opinion of the OAG, the of a permanent secretariat should ensure better administrative management of the . In further development of the , which will include increasing numbers of scientific subjects, there may in the OAGs opinion be a need for an overall strategy for the Council which better steers the technical and financial resources towards long-term and specific goals. The work of the is primarily based on dialogue, cooperation and volunteerism. While the recommendations are not binding under international law on the member states, they are politically binding. is there an expectation in the Declaration and the rules of procedure that member states must document the extent to which the recommendations are followed up. shows that extensive efforts are invested in generating the knowledge that underlies the Councils recommendations. There is information on how member states follow up the key recommendations, and whether the work has an effect. The Arctic states have a major shared responsibility to ensure the sustainable development of the Arctic region. Without some form of follow-up work, it will be difficult in the OAGs opinion for the to develop into an effective body with even greater scientific and political impact. has not adequately facilitated indigenous peoples participation in the Councils work The importance of the participation of indigenous peoples in the broad cooperation in the is clearly expressed in the Declaration and reiterated in the ministerial declarations, and six indigenous organisations are Permanent Participants of the Council. They attend all Ministerial Meetings and are free to participate in the work of the working groups and other Council projects. The audit shows, however, that actual participation in projects varies, partly due to lack of resources – both financial and in terms of available expertise and personnel. has not established a funding mechanism that can ensure the participation of indigenous peoples in the work of the Council, and each country is responsible for funding the participation of indigenous peoples. The audit shows that participation is important because both changes and initiatives in the Arctic can greatly affect indigenous peoples way of life. There are weaknesses in the coordination and implementation of the Norwegian work related to the is an important body in work on High North policy, and there is broad consensus that the should be the leading political body for Arctic issues. The audit shows that working with the and the technical issues that the council raises involve several ministries disciplines and responsibilities. Compared with the and , the other relevant ministries are not equally engaged in the work of the . The other ministries have placed emphasis on the information and knowledge provided by the because these ministries found to a greater extent it to be more expedient to emphasise other international processes and national knowledge. In the OAGs opinion, the function and role of the various Norwegian expert authorities in work is therefore somewhat unclear. Because the is currently working on many more issues than before, it will, in the OAGs view, become even more important to ensure good involvement and coordination of the work of Norwegian actors with the . This also applies to the use of the knowledge that the Norwegian government has in a number of areas that are of interest to the other Arctic states. The OAG therefore believes it is positive that the wants closer collaboration with relevant ministries and agencies in matters raised by the . The OAG also notes that the has not established a regular practice of track of the extent to which the responsible sector ministries follow up the relevant recommendations of the , or whether relevant recommendations are already incorporated in the Norwegian government. The audit shows that the lack of a monitoring system does not necessarily mean that the recommendations are not followed up, or whether the recommendations are already part of existing Norwegian policy. It is mainly international law obligations and national goals that govern the Norwegian administrations work in the Arctic. This takes place independently of the . ARKTISKA RÅDET – VAD KAN GÖRA FÖR ATT MÖTA RÅDETS UTMANINGAR The Office of the Auditor Generals recommendations The OAG recommends that the : facilitate even better coordination of the work of the with the relevant sector ministries initiate various measures so that all relevant ministries increasingly find work with the expedient both to utilise the work of the and to provide relevant expertise in areas of importance to the Arctic. reinforce efforts, including through the permanent secretariat, to make the a more efficient and effective body with emphasis on better management, organisation, funding and reporting A pdf of the report can be found at the following link in Norwegian: The report will also be available in English in spring : The Accounts Chamber of examined the implementation of national Arctic policy and execution of recommendations The audit report will be submitted to Parliament the Duma when the Joint Memorandum is finalized and signed by all the participating SAIs Information of the Accounts Chamber of Methodology The Multilateral Audit of the Efficiency of the Implementation and Performance by the Member States of the Recommendations of the in the Field of Ensuring Protection of the Environment and Sustainable Development in Arctic (hereinafter referred to as the Multilateral Audit) was carried out at the national level with participation of control and accounting bodies of constituent entities of , located in the Arctic of : the and Regions, Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous Areas, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). In the frame of the national audit, priorities and mechanisms of implementation of the national policy of in Arctic were analysed, and the performance of the recommendations was assessed. In order to ensure a unified methodological approach to the Multilateral Audit based on the Strategic Plan and the question tree, the Accounts Chamber developed a unified programme of the control activity. The Accounts Chamber and control and accounting bodies of constituent entities of collected, analyzed and assessed the data based on a standard list of questions (including statistical key figures), using, in a number of cases, the method of interviewing representatives of governmental bodies involved in the activities of the and organizations representing the interests of indigenous peoples. The national report was prepared on the basis of materials provided by 13 federal ministries, agencies and their subordinate research and development institutions, as well as executive bodies of constituent entities of and non- profit organizations of indigenous peoples. During the audit, special attention was paid to the analysis of international treaties, documents of national strategic planning and regulatory legal acts of , ministerial declarations and other documents of the . ARKTISKA RÅDET – VAD KAN GÖRA FÖR ATT MÖTA RÅDETS UTMANINGAR Findings of the National Audit The national policy of in Arctic is implemented in accordance with strategic planning documents (Basics of the State Policy of in the Arctic for the Period till 2020 and for a Further Perspective and the Development Strategy of the Arctic of and for the Period till 2020) and is aimed at the socio-economic development of the Arctic (including raising the degree of knowledge of natural resources and expanding their exploration, developing information, communication and transport infrastructure, the system of timely warning about hazards, preserving culture and traditions of indigenous peoples), ensuring environmental safety and international cooperation in the Region. The priority problems in this sphere are solved through improving national legislation on the basis of rules of international law and international obligations of , as well as the development and implementation of state programmes financed from budgetary and extra-budgetary sources. The interaction with Arctic States in the frame of the is one of the priorities for in the field of international cooperation in the Region. is an international forum and interaction within its frameworks contributes to the development of the multilateral cooperation in the field of environment protection and exploration of Arctic. The format of the , which involves implementation of research projects and development of recommendations based on these projects at the level of responsible officials representing the Council Member States contribute to coordination of the efforts of scientific and expert community and government agencies regarding the issues of sustainable development in Arctic, as well as allows pursuing constructive policy in strengthening multiformat cooperation while respecting the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the Arctic States. The Accounts Chamber of points out that has adopted regulatory legal acts of strategic and programmatic nature, aimed at the development of the Arctic economic capacity taking into account approaches of sustainable development and minimizing man-induced burden, preservation of the natural environment of the Region, traditional natural resource management and culture of indigenous peoples. The analysis of regulatory legal acts adopted proves that their provisions generally take into account recommendations of the regarding the prevention of the spread of pollutants and climate change, protection of sea environment and prevention of emergencies, preservation of flora and fauna, development of the , integration of traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples. The measures to develop the Arctic of are implemented in the framework of the State Programme of Social and Economic Development of the Arctic of until the year 2020, adopted on , which contributes to effective coordination of interaction of the federal executive authorities, ensuring the systematic nature of budgetary planning and comprehensiveness in accomplishing the tasks assigned. In order to ensure a comprehensive approach to the implementation of measures on sustainable development and environment protection in Arctic, it is reasonable to combine them within the frame of a single state programme, which would also make it possible to optimize the recourse provision for the said measures and improve the quality of interaction of government bodies in their implementation. Conclusions and recommendations on specific themes (fields) 1.The determination of priorities for the development of the Arctic of made it possible, to a certain extent, to consolidate state resources on the basis of the Management by Objective method of state administration, including financial resources, which provided a positive impact on the socio-economic development of the Region. For the past five years, the growth rate of the gross domestic product per person and the amount of investments into fixed assets per person in subarctic constituent entities of have exceeded the average Russian figures. The increase by in the total population size of indigenous peoples living in the Arctic of has been registered for the past 10 years. The adoption of the State Programme of Social and Economic Development of the Arctic of until the year 2020 enabled to define the territory of the Arctic of the Russian Federatin, to ensure a unified approach to the development of measures in the Arctic of and control over the implementation thereof, as well as to ensure the formation of the state statistical reporting. 2.One of the development priorities in the Arctic of is the socio-economic support of indigenous peoples of the North, which is carried out, in particular, at the expense of the federal budget funds and consolidated budgets of constituent entities of . In order to ensure the rights and interests of indigenous peoples, a number of regulatory legal acts have been adopted, which are aimed at the development of traditional industries and provision of modern social services. ARKTISKA RÅDET – VAD KAN GÖRA FÖR ATT MÖTA RÅDETS UTMANINGAR Besides, the audit findings confirm the conclusion of the experts regarding the influence of climate changes and man-induced impact on the traditional lifestyle of indigenous peoples of the Arctic . Improving the regulatory framework of rights of indigenous peoples of Arctic would contribute to the preservation of traditional culture, environment and traditional natural resource management, as well as to the promotion of traditional way of life. 3.In accordance with the Strategy of Development of the Arctic of , measures have been taken to develop the transport system focused on year-round operation, including the North Sea Route, which made it possible to almost double the volume of cargo traffic along the North Sea Route for the past five years. In order to ensure the safety of , a comprehensive system of navigation and hydrographic support along the Northern Sea Route is being created; in its framework, it is suggested to ensure the disposal of radioactive thermoelectric generators (hereinafter referred to as RTGs) and install alternative power sources. Within the period from 2008 to 2012, the total of 257 RTGs were disposed of and 201 units of navigation equipment were installed. At the same time, the existing network of railroads and motor ways are not able to fully provide the growing needs of the developing Arctic . It is necessary to take additional measures to increase the capacity of existing roads and build new lines. 4.In order to raise the mobility of search-and-rescue units in the Arctic of , duty shifts of emergency response service have been organized; new forward deployment stations of professional rescue teams have been established; multipurpose salvage with unlimited navigation area provided with equipment for oil spills liquidation are being constructed. Measures to ensure the search and rescue preparedness allowed reducing the number of sea accidents with sea from 13 (in 2008) to 3 (in 2012). 5.The implementation of the recommendations regarding the Arctic monitoring and assessment development is based on the environment condition and pollution monitoring system. The existing monitoring system, as well as the methods of calculation and forecast, ensure a sufficient level of general and specialized hydro meteorological support. At the same time, certain subsystems of state environmental monitoring in the Arctic of require further development, in particular, the monitoring of fauna. The findings of the state environmental monitoring in Arctic are indicative of an insignificant change in the level of its contamination; the state of the ozone layer over the Arctic is within the range of natural variability. 6.Russia pursues a consistent policy within the frameworks of the , aimed at expanding mutually beneficial cooperation of the Arctic States in the Region and strengthening the sovereignty of . In particular, the first legally binding document was signed upon the initiative of : the Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Search and Rescue in the Arctic (Nuuk, 12, 2011). progress in the implementation by national action programme on sea environment protection and the projects aimed at preventing the contaminants spread was noted in the declarations adopted by the Fifth (, October 26, 2006) and Fourth (, , 2004) Ministerial Sessions, accordingly. At the national level, the Accounts Chamber of emphasized the need to raise the level of awareness of the chambers of the Federal Assembly of about the activities. ARKTISKA RÅDET – VAD KAN GÖRA FÖR ATT MÖTA RÅDETS UTMANINGAR Audit Office has examined whether receives an effective return from its membership of the The Swedish report was submitted to Parliament on 28th 2013. has been a member of the since it was formed in 1996. The Government has stated that the is the foremost multilateral forum for issues concerning the Arctic. The Government has also stated that it will work to strengthen the . The climate and the environment is one of three main priorities in strategy for the Arctic region, as well as in the programme for Chairmanship. The purpose was to examine whether receives an effective return from its membership of the .