© Arctic Frontiers
Events
WWF Arctic at 2025 Arctic Frontiers conference
- Biodiversity and nature
- Pan-Arctic
WWF Global Arctic Programme will be at the 2025 Arctic Frontiers conference from 27-30 January 2025 in Tromsø, Norway. Vanessa Dick, Kiira Keski-Nirva, Vicki Lee Wallgren and Ronja Wedegärtner from the Global Arctic Programme will be onsite and participating in several events outlined below.
Event #1 | Beyond the Ordinary: Innovating Governance Structures for Better Biodiversity Protection
SIDE EVENT
When: 27 January 2025, 9:00-10:30
Where: The Edge, Room Margarinfabrikken 2
Livestream the event
In the Arctic, biodiversity loss and the climate crisis are more interlinked than in any other place on Earth, and there’s both a need and potential for better biodiversity governance in the region. Several governance frameworks exist that, if implemented properly, could contribute to strengthening the resilience of Arctic biodiversity. This event will first focus on two key examples: the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Agreement to prevent unregulated high seas fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean. We then turn to a wide-ranging panel debate about existing needs and scope for taking action in Arctic biodiversity governance. Through expert introductions and a panel discussion, we will address the following questions:
What is at stake for Arctic nature and in what areas do we have the most pressing needs for innovation, enhanced implementation or quicker action in ecosystem governance?
What potential exists for new thinking in using existing governance instruments and structures to better protect Arctic biodiversity?
What is the role of states, Indigenous peoples, the Arctic Council, and global multilateral bodies in Arctic biodiversity governance?
Moderator: Dr. Elana Wilson Rowe, Research Professor, Norwegian Institute of Foreign Affairs.
Speakers:
- Vicki Lee Wallgren, Director, WWF Global Arctic Programme
- Christian Prip, Senior Researcher, Fridtjof Nansen Institute
- Anja Márjá Nystø Keskitalo, Advisor and Project coordinator Youth Together For Arctic Futures, Saami Council
- Willfred Nordlund, Member of the Norwegian Parliament and Vice-Chair of the Delegation for Arctic Cooperation.
- Miguel Roncero, International Relations Officer, DG MARE, European Commission
Organised by: World Wide Fund for Nature, Fridtjof Nansen Institute and Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Contact: Kiira Keski-Nirva, knirva@wwf.no
Event #2 |Climate Model Data to Assess Climate Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies (Part 1)
SCIENCE
When: 28 January 2025, 8:30-10:00
Where: The Edge, Arbeidskontoret 2
In recent years, the volume of climate data available for impact assessments and supporting climate adaptation and mitigation has increased exponentially. At the same time, polar climate models have made substantial progress in lowering barriers to using climate models in support of climate adaptation and mitigation. Higher resolution models (up to 1km) and an increasing confidence in projections has led to more success in using climate model data for assessing various polices.
Climate model data can be used to assess the impact of climate change, and associated mitigation and adaptation plans, on various aspects of Arctic society and the earth system. By exploiting this novel data, we can now assess the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems, Arctic wildfires, and permafrost thaw; impacts that reverberate across the Arctic regardless of political boundaries. However, such models should also be adaptable to the end users’ needs, and this can be achieved through co-designing climate projections.
WWF Global Arctic Programme’s Ronja Wedegärtner will speak about modelling evidence for strong regional impact of circum-Arctic climate change on migratory tundra caribou.
Event #3 | Ensuring Effective Uptake of Knowledge from EU-Funded Arctic Projects by Local and Regional Decision-makers
SIDE EVENT
When: 28 January 2025, 10:30-12:00
Where: The Edge, Importkompaniet
This side event will focus on how to ensure that the knowledge and recommendations generated by EU-funded projects, such as Arctic PASSION, Arctic Urban and Regional Cooperation (AURC) and Youth Together for Arctic Futures, are effectively made available to local and regional decision-makers, rather than being lost at the end of the project lifecycle. Participants will engage in a dialogue to assess whether the outputs of these projects align with their own needs and explore additional issues important from their perspectives.
The discussion will examine the best ways to communicate and implement these recommendations, ensuring long-term utility for local governance, international Arctic organizations, research institutions, and funding agencies. By clearly identifying who is responsible for implementing recommendations, this session aims to prevent valuable knowledge from being under-utilised. Panellists will be invited to identify gaps and/or case studies for future EU-funded projects that test the practical implementation of recommendations.
This session is particularly relevant to local decision-makers attending the conference, as well as stakeholders and partners from EU-funded projects such as Arctic PASSION, AURC, and Youth Together for Arctic Futures.
Speakers:
- Ronja Wedegärtner, Project Leader, WWF Global Arctic Programme
- Michael KarcherPhysical OceanographerAlfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AW)
- Malgorzata Smieszek-Rice, Research Fellow, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway
- Gunn-Britt Retter, Head of Arctic- and Environmental Unit, Saami Council
- Miguel Roncero, International Relations Officer, European Commission
- Adam Stepien, Political Scientist, Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland
- Anne Rännäli-Kontturi, International Affairs Manager, City of Oulu
Event #4 | Re-Examining Arctic Marine Use and Associated Information Needs in a Changing Environment
SIDE EVENT
When: 29 January 2025, 9:00-10:30
Where: The Edge, Margarinfabrikken 1 and 2
Livestream the event
Arctic nations have a unique opportunity to continue working together with Indigenous groups and Arctic stakeholders to develop agreements, policies, and plans for guiding marine activities and sustainability in the Arctic Ocean and surrounding northern waters for decades to come. The International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (2017) and the International Agreement to Prevent Unregulated Fishing in the High Seas of the Central Arctic Ocean (2021) are good examples of past efforts. Work remains to be done on implementing and executing existing agreements, and new climatic, economic, and geo-political realities may necessitate the development of a next generation of approaches. Data, information, knowledge, and their synthesis continue to be needed for understanding, anticipating, guiding, and managing various uses of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding northern waters. The objective of this side event is to identify priority needs for support to ongoing data, information, and knowledge gathering efforts and discuss potential new schemes for sharing and exchange to support sustainable, equitable Arctic Ocean use.
Organised by: Norwegian Polar Institute and U.S. Coast Guard Academy Academy Center for Arctic Study and Policy
Vicki Lee Wallgren, director of the WWF Global Arctic Programme, will be speaking at this event.
Event #5 | Safeguarding Our Common Waters Beyond Borders: Why is the High Seas Treaty Important for the Future of the Arctic?
SIDE EVENT
When: 30 January 2025, 13:30-15:00
Where: The Edge, Importkompaniet
In 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (also known as the High Seas Treaty). The Treaty establishes mechanisms for protecting biodiversity in the areas beyond national jurisdiction— both in the high seas and on the international seabed. This new Treaty provides a key governance tool in the areas beyond national jurisdiction to reach the target of another significant global governance mechanism, the Global Biodiversity Framework, to protect 30% of the world’s oceans.
Through this event, speakers will provide unique insights into the evolution of cooperation in safeguarding the Arctic’s ecosystems across and beyond borders. We will explore the implications of new global agreements for various interest groups and nature in the circumpolar Arctic, addressing opportunities and challenges related to the regional implementation of these global agreements.
Moderator: Margaret Williams, Senior Fellow, Arctic Initiative, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Speakers:
- Vito De Lucia, Professor of Law, Director of the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea
- Vicki Lee Wallgren, Director, WWF Global Arctic Programme
- Kai Simon Eikli Yuen, International Adviser, The Norwegian Shipowners Association
- James Jansen, Senior Arctic Lead & Deputy Head of Polar Regions Department, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Representative of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (TBC)
Organised by: UiT Arctic University of Norway, World Wide Fund for Nature and Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
By WWF Global Arctic Programme
