The Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group (PAME) is one of six working groups encompassed by the Arctic Council. Founded as part of the 1991 Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, it assimilated into the structure of the Council following the signing of the 1996 Ottawa Declaration by the eight Arctic states. The Working Group claims to operate across the domains of Arctic shipping, maritime pollution, marine protected areas, ecosystem approaches to management, resource exploitation and development, and associations with the marine environment. Where necessary, it is tasked with producing guidelines and recommendations for policy improvement, with projects approved every two years by the council.
The working group includes representatives from each state, (Canada, Denmark (representing both Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States) as well as its Permanent Participants (Aleut International Association (AAI), Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC), Gwich'in Council International (GCI), Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), and the Saami Council) representing the region's indigenous populations, and a number of observers. The Secretariat for PAME is located in Akureyri, Iceland.
Objectives
The overarching objectives for PAME were formally outlined in the 2009 meeting held in Oslo, Norway. These objectives are:
To improve knowledge and respond to emerging knowledge of the Arctic Marine Environment. To determine the adequacy of applicable international/regional commitments and promote their implementation and compliance. To facilitate partnerships, programme and technical cooperation and support communication, reporting and outreach both within and outside the Arctic Council.
Arctic Maritime Strategic Plans
PAME's objectives, and strategies to further their realisation, are periodically delineated in the group's Arctic Maritime Strategic Plans. As of May 2020, the group has published two such documents; one for the years between 2000 and 2015, and the other for those between 2015 and 2025.
Arctic Maritime Strategic Plan 2005–2015
The first of the Working Group's Arctic Maritime Strategic Plans was approved by the Arctic Council in November 2004. The plan centred around:
The curtailment and prevention of Arctic marine pollution, The development of sustainable mechanisms for employment of Arctic marine resources, The conservation of marine biodiversity and ecosystems and The 'health and prosperity' of all Arctic inhabitants.
Arctic Maritime Strategic Plan 2015–2025
The second Arctic Maritime Strategic Plan delineated four distinct goals relating to Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment for the following 10 years. It was approved by the Council in April 2015 at a meeting in Iqaluit, Canada. The plan called for:
The furthering of knowledge relating to the Arctic marine environment and the continuation of the domain's monitoring and assessment structures, The conservation of ecosystem function and encouragement of marine biodiversity, Sustainable employment of the marine environment, centred around cumulative environmental impacts and The enhancement of 'economic, social and cultural well-being of Arctic inhabitants', including the Arctic's indigenous population and the strengthening of their capacity to adapt to ongoing changes in the Arctic marine environment.
The second Arctic Maritime Strategic Plan was accompanied by two plans to strengthen its progress: the Implementation Plan and Communication Plan. The former was intended to provide the Arctic Council with an increasingly structured approach to achieving the Working Group's goals, as well as providing guidelines against which progress could be appraised. The latter aimed to facilitate communication and understanding to ensure the fulfilment of the working group's goals.
Cooperation
PAME works in partnership with The Arctic Council's five additional working groups to construct its strategic plans and suggest mechanisms for their implementation. The five additional working groups of the Arctic Council are:
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Conservation of Arctic Flora & Fauna (CAFF) Emergency Prevention, Preparedness & Response (EPPR) Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP)