Foreign Minister Soini to Arctic climate conference in Anchorage

Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will participate in a Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience (GLACIER) in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A., on 31 August. The GLACIER Conference, which is organised by the U.S.A., will bring together foreign ministers from the Member States and observer parties of the Arctic Council, as well as experts in Arctic matters. The conference will be hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

The topics of discussion in the conference focus on climate change, sustainable development and strengthening of cooperation in the Arctic region. The theme of the conference will be discussed in three separate sessions. Foreign Minister Soini will chair the session dealing with Arctic cooperation. The conference will adopt a Joint Statement on Climate Change and the Arctic. The conference aims at promoting the international climate negotiations conducted under the UN.

The GLACIER conference is a part of the U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council. Finland will assume its two-year chairmanship in 2017.

The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental cooperation forum between the Governments of the Nordic countries, Russia, Canada and the United States of America. Representatives of the Arctic indigenous peoples also take part in the Council's work. The observer countries of the Arctic Council are China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Inquiries: Raili Lahnalampi, Chief of Cabinet, Office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 50 550 7546, Aleksi Härkönen, Ambassador for Arctic Affairs, tel. +358 50 462 4471, and Sanna Kangasharju, Press Counselor, tel. +1 202 468 0269.