John Crump/Grid Arendal: “As awareness about the implications about Arctic climate change has grown, so has interest in the region as a potential reservoir of oil, gas and other resources. When the Arctic Council was formed in 1996, it didn’t need a large venue to hold its meetings. The recent Ministerial meeting at the end of the two-year U.S. Chairmanship was held in a large community centre in Fairbanks, Alaska. Seven new observers were welcomed to the growing Arctic Council ‘family’, bringing the total to 39 governments, NGOs, research institutions and other bodies which attend this consultative body’s biannual Senior Arctic Officials meetings or participate in its working groups. The Arctic Council is a political forum that has been criticized in the last few years for being too slow to respond to rapid change taking place in the Arctic environment. On the other hand, it has created a body of knowledge about those changes which has influenced global processes including international treaties to reduce on persistent organic pollutants and mercury…”