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The final Senior Arctic Officials’ plenary meeting during the Icelandic Chairmanship at the Arctic Council took place virtually in Reykjavik. Iceland virtually hosted a record number of registered delegates from the eight Arctic States and six Indigenous Permanent Participant organizations, as well as the Arctic Council’s six Working Groups and over thirty Observers. The three-day meeting reviewed finalized projects and explored ways forward for new initiatives introduced by the Icelandic Chairmanship. The Chair of the Arctic Council, Icelandic Foreign Minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson promised a successful albeit different Ministerial meeting. The Chairmanship shared its plans for a Ministerial, which is scheduled to take place in Reykjavik on 20th May. The Ministers of the eight Arctic States and representatives of the Indigenous Permanent Participants have been invited to attend in person. With worldwide travel restrictions still in effect, Iceland is preparing for minimum in-person attendance and an extensive virtual platform that will allow a broad audience to participate remotely. At the center of the preparations for the Ministerial meeting lies the finalization of the more than 50 deliverables that the Council’s Working Groups have prepared over the past two years. The second day of the SAO meeting therefore was fully dedicated to review the reports, tools, guidelines and plans that have furthered the Council’s knowledge-base and ensured progress made towards achieving the Icelandic Chairmanship priorities – on climate and green energy solutions, the Arctic marine environment, people and communities of the Arctic and a stronger Arctic Council. Arctic Council
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