Polar Research and Policy Initiative, commonly known as PRPI or The Polar Connection, is an independent, international foreign policy think tank dedicated primarily to the Arctic, Nordic, Baltic and Antarctic regions, as well as energy and environment issues. PRPI is headquartered in London, United Kingdom and has an international presence across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific, notably through the geographic distribution of its Fellows, Advisors and Affiliates. PRPI operates principally in the international area and is committed to supporting sustainable regional development through multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral and multi-national dialogue and cooperation.
History
Background
In 2015–16, the Arctic Council marked its 20th anniversary; the Arctic Economic Council opened its secretariat in Tromsø and adopted its foundational documents; and the Parties to the Antarctic Treaty within the Antarctic Treaty System celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty that set aside Antarctica as a "natural reserve, devoted to peace and science". Within the United Kingdom, the Polar Regions continued to show interest with the ongoing commemoration of the centenary of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 2014-2017 and the online poll by the Natural Environment Research Council for a name for the newly commissioned Royal Research Ship that saw Boaty McBoatface emerge as the most popular suggestion before it was named RRS Sir David Attenborough. December 2015 also witnessed the Paris Agreement reached by 195 government delegations at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.
Founding
Polar Research and Policy Initiative was founded by Dr Dwayne Ryan Menezes and Mr Christophe Milhères in 2015-2016 as the UK's first policy think-tank dedicated primarily to the Arctic and the Antarctic. It was incorporated in England and Wales in September 2015, six months after their return from Greenland, and launched in February 2016 at a private reception held at the Travellers Club in London, with Aleqa Hammond, the former Prime Minister of Greenland, and Andrew Rosindell, Member of Parliament (MP) for Romford and Founder and former Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Polar Regions, as speakers. Among the attendees were Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary-General; Captain Ashok Mahapatra, Director of the Maritime Safety Division of the International Maritime Organization; Stefan Asmundssen, President of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission; Donald Lamont, Chairman of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust and former Governor of the Falkland Islands and Commissioner of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and Jock Wishart, polar explorer. Its web portal Polar Connection was launched thereafter in July 2016.
Current Status
The mission of PRPI, as stated on its website, is to: raise the profile and understanding of the Polar Regions in the UK and across the Commonwealth; support polar researchers and polar research institutions in maximising the visibility, impact and reach of their research; increase and sustain the scholarly, cultural, political and commercial engagement of the UK and relevant Commonwealth member states with the Polar Regions (especially the Arctic Council member states); help address some of the toughest political, social, economic and environmental challenges facing polar peoples and places; facilitate greater bilateral trade and investment between Arctic states and Commonwealth member states.
Over the past two years, its focus has gradually expanded: while PRPI had a UK and Commonwealth of Nations specific focus at the start, this has expanded to include, over the first six months, the United States and, after the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum (popularly known as Brexit), the rest of Europe. Currently, it positions itself as a UK-based international think-tank that operates principally in the international arena. Furthermore, at the time of its inception, PRPI engaged with different geographic constituencies through four engagement forums, dealing with the Asia Pacific, European Union, Small Island Developing States and World Ocean respectively. Following the 2016 Arctic Circle Assembly, it also introduced a new BRICS engagement forum.