Arctic Nations to Discuss Immediate Region Issues in Alaska

Foreign ministers of Arctic nations, as well as key stakeholders from non-Arctic states, will address the immediate challenges of the region and propose possible solutions at the international conference in the US city of Anchorage, Alaska, on August 30-31.


The Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience, or GLACIER, will be hosted by the US Department of State, and is strongly supported by the US government.

The Arctic summit is expected to focus on the most urgent issues facing the Arctic today.

Topics will include climate change, adaptation planning and strengthening coordination in Arctic affairs, according to the State Department.

US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry will attend the conference. Obama will become the first sitting US president to visit Alaska.

The US president will address the issue of climate change. In recent months, Obama has pushed through some major climate change policy initiatives such as the Clean Power Plan, which aims to curb US power plant carbon pollution by 32 percent in the next fifteen years.

The conference will bring together foreign ministers from Arctic nations and intergovernmental agencies from numerous countries including China, Russia, Germany, France, Japan and the United Kingdom to address the issue of climate change.

A senior State Department official told journalists on Friday that they are expecting delegations from 20 countries to participate the conference. He added some 450 people including policy makers, diplomats, scientists, representatives of non-governmental organizations will attend the conference.

Russia’s delegation will be headed by Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak.
  (Sputnik) 
30/8/15