International Governance Facilitating Sustainable Development in the Arctic: The Arctic Council as a Multi-Role Actor and Forum

The Arctic Council (AC) is the key forum used by the Arctic states and representative organizations of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic to develop the international governance of the Arctic region and to facilitate cooperation in areas of common concern. In recent years, the AC has evolved to become a tool for the creation of binding international legal norms by the Arctic states, utilizing the cooperative spirit embodied by the AC, its structures, and in particular the scientific work undertaken within the framework of the AC, for example, through working groups, task forces, and expert groups. Sustainable development is one of these shared concerns. Analyzing the work of the AC and the member states’ historic and current use of the AC as a forum as well as the academic literature on the work of the AC, this chapter looks at the evolution of the AC since its early days and its current role between notable successes and ongoing challenges, with a particular emphasis on the issue of sustainable development, taking into account pan-Arctic challenges and obstacles to the full realization of the Sustainable Development Goals as well as current trends in international Arctic governance.