15 September 2010: The Ninth Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, hosted by the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, from 13-15 September 2010, produced a statement addressing, among other things, climate change issues.

According to the statement, the elected representatives of Canada, Denmark/Greenland, the European Parliament, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden, in collaboration with the indigenous peoples of the Arctic, met to discuss: the sustainable use of living resources in the Arctic; cooperation in education and research – the legacy of International Polar Year; and the consequences of the melting ice. They considered the transformative change occurring in the Arctic driven by the forces of climate change and globalization resulting in tighter economic and geopolitical links.

Participants agreed to ask the governments in the Arctic Region, the Arctic Council and the institutions of the EU to: raise a strong Arctic message to combat climate change at the Cancun Climate Change Conference in late 2010; enhance efforts to prevent and mitigate climate change and its consequences for Arctic populations and wildlife habitats; and continue to improve the assessment of the environmental, societal and economic consequences of natural resource exploration and extraction. [Conference Statement] [Conference Website]