Policy

George Donart argues that Alaska’s rapid warming and permafrost thaw are damaging roads, runways, buildings and fisheries, and that practical leadership is required to address infrastructure strain, energy reliability, and community resilience.

Northwest Territories and Yellowknife have jointly decided not to bid for the 2035 Canada Winter Games because the required investment and infrastructure would be difficult to deliver responsibly and sustainably.

A speculative map layers Arctic ice retreat, territorial claims, shipping, extraction, and wildlife migration to illustrate entangled Arctic change.

The Canadian Medical Association released an updated Code of Ethics and Professionalism that sets clearer expectations on physicians to deliver culturally safe, trauma‑informed and equitable care, developed with Indigenous representatives and available in Inuktitut. The revisions, part of the CMA’s reconciliation efforts, focus especially on the Northwest Territories where Indigenous patients comprise a large share of the population. Dr Courtney Howard urged physicians to learn Indigenous health practices and maintain humility and openness. The updated code clarifies responsibilities around

Fortune Minerals secured a renewed water licence and land use permit for its NICO critical‑minerals mine in the Northwest Territories, following approval by the NWT Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Wek’èezhìı Land and Water Board. The permits set conditions for construction, operation, security, and reclamation, positioning the project to provide a domestic supply of cobalt, bismuth, copper and gold.

Canada and Norway are expanding their partnership to include the German‑Norwegian Type 212CD submarine programme, with Canada planning to acquire up to 12 submarines and negotiate a new defence cooperation agreement. The governments also agreed to collaborate on Arctic space‑based surveillance and other joint defence initiatives.

Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network signed a renewed five‑year agreement, extending cooperation to the end of 2031. The deal will strengthen IACN’s role, focus on Arctic Council participation, national consultation, Akureyri as a research centre, and specific assignments for the ministry. The ceremony in Akureyri highlighted the town’s growing Arctic expertise hub.

A contract with the Kistawaw Family Treatment Centre in Alberta was cancelled by the Government of the Northwest Territories in June 2026, forcing NWT families to finish treatment in Regina and requiring them to redo months of program.

Parks Canada has begun an assessment of oil‑sands tailings threats to Wood Buffalo National Park, a move urged by local Indigenous communities and recommended by UNESCO inspectors. The evaluation is to be completed before the end of 2024, with a contract expected in the coming months.

Norwegian energy companies will continue Arctic oil and gas exploration despite reports the EU is upholding its 2021 moratorium, according to Offshore Norway.

The European Commission has deployed a civil protection mission to Greenland to assess and improve emergency preparedness amid rising climate risks, following a new joint declaration with Greenland and Denmark.

Japan, the US and South Korea are preparing a memorandum on Arctic maritime cooperation and expanded energy supplies, a move that China experts warn could heighten geopolitical and security competition in the region.

China is preparing a second LNG terminal in Longkou to receive sanctioned Arctic Russian LNG, following the first terminal in Beihai that has already taken 41 cargoes of roughly 2.6 million tons, amid U.S. sanctions that halted Arctic LNG 2 production twice.

U.S. Coast Guard members sailed aboard NoCGV Svalbard from Aug. 17‑Sept. 7 for an international deep‑ocean observation campaign near Svalbard, with Phase 2 running to Sept. 27. In July, USCGC Stone and NoCGV Hopen carried out Operation Arctic Cohesion with Canadian and Finnish observers, and Norwegian officers will board USCGC Stone during the 2025 Arctic patrol, further strengthening Arctic interoperability.

The American Geophysical Union will continue producing the Arctic Report Card after NOAA cuts federal support, maintaining editorial leadership and incorporating Indigenous science.

A three‑year partnership between the Tłı̨chǫ Government and Tłı̨chǫ Investment Corporation creates an apprenticeship pathway to give Tłı̨chǫ citizens paid work placements, training and project‑management opportunities in the Northwest Territories.