Aava meri arktisella - ympäristön tila ja hallinta keskisellä Jäämerellä

The Central Arctic Ocean (CAO) project, under the auspices of the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) Working Group of the Arctic Council, is aiming towards synthesizing relevant information on the status, trends, and projected changes in the CAO Large Marine Ecosystem (LME), human activities and pressures in the area, the current management measures in place in order to inform future policy and management making. Thus, a synthesis report is drafted based on existing literature, reports prepared by other Arctic Council Working Groups, and reports of other collaborative Working Groups, in regards to the Central Arctic Ocean.

As the CAO is impacted by climate change and projected to be an area of unprecedented changes in the future, including the sea-ice loss and connected to an interest in increased economic activities within the area, key objectives include:

• understanding and describing existing management measures and governance frameworks,
• assessing current human activities, including drivers and pressures,
• highlighting the current status of marine biodiversity and marine ecosystems, and
• communicating information on Indigenous knowledge and local knowledge.

Finland is one of the co-leads on this project, alongside Canada, the United States, Sweden, and WWF. Against this background, the Arctic Centre contributes with its expertise in Arctic Governance, Law, and Policy.