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the Arctic Council to assess the current biodiversity situation in the Arctic and to establish a circumpolar monitoring program to detect and report changes in nature. This work will give us an overview of the most up-to-date research and provide an important instrument for monitoring Arctic biodiversity.

As parliamentarians, we must ask ourselves if we have the right international regulatory framework to meet the rapid changes happening in the Arctic. The basis for the governance of the Arctic Ocean is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is, however, clear to me that in light of the changing climate and the increased human activity, we need to conduct an audit of the more specific multilateral environmental agreements relevant to the Arctic.

We must seek to find ways to regulate human activity in the Arctic and aim to keep ahead of development. One example is the ongoing process in the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which is looking at how regulation for shipping in ice- covered waters can be improved.

Sustainable communities in the Arctic will continue to rely on the rich natural resources in the Arctic. At the recently held Arctic parliamentary conference we also discussed the management of living resources in the region. In the conference statement we ask the Arctic countries to establish an Arctic cooperation on the management of living resources in the Arctic. We also underline the need for better Arctic cooperation on emerging fisheries and on transborder fish stocks in the Arctic, to secure future generations the possibility to harvest from these renewable resources.

RELEVANCE OF MULTI-LATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS 81