The Arctic Council has been widely hailed for producing and synthesising scientific findings and knowledge. Based on these findings, the working groups of the Arctic Council have made recommendations on what states and the international community should do to safeguard the Arctic. However, less is known about when, how, and why this knowledge and recommendations are used.

We ask the following question: To what extent and under what conditions do member states use the knowledge and policies generated in the Arctic Council? We narrow in on three key issue areas in the work of the AC: short-lived climate pollutants, biodiversity and marine protected areas, and maritime shipping.

The project will analyse and compare the science–policy nexus in two Arctic states—Norway and Canada—which differ in analytically conducive ways. How does the science assessed and synthesised by the Arctic Council directly or indirectly affect policy decisions and environmental management in the two states?

Project period: 2023-2026