Ilulissat Declaration

The Ilulissat Declaration was announced on May 28, 2008 by five Arctic circumpolar nations meeting at the political level during the Arctic Ocean Conference in Ilulissat, Greenland to discuss the Arctic ocean, climate change, the protection of the marine environment, maritime safety, and division of emergency responsibilities if new shipping routes are opened.

One of the chief goals written into the declaration was blockage of any "new comprehensive international legal regime to govern the Arctic Ocean". An additional pledge for the "the orderly settlement of any possible overlapping claims," was expected as the conference invitation originated in 2007 as a consequence of several jurisdictional disputes, including Hans Island and Arktika 2007.

The conference, held May 27 to May 29, 2008, was hosted by Per Stig Møller, Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Hans Enoksen, Greenlandic Prime Minister. The key ministerial level attendees included Sergey Lavrov, Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Gary Lunn, Canadian Minister for Natural Resources, and John Negroponte, American Deputy Secretary of State, and Møller.

Some members of the Arctic Council, including indigenous peoples, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden were not invited to the conference and not party to the declaration.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/