Arctic Initiative

The IISD Arctic Initiative focuses on bottom-up transformations to sustainability in the Arctic, addressing climate change adaptation, extractive industries, infrastructure, and transformative knowledge. It emphasizes the region's rapid warming—twice the global average—and the resulting pressures on ecosystems and food security, alongside increasing interest from global actors in shipping and resource extraction.

• The Arctic is experiencing rapid climate change, with average temperatures increasing at nearly double the global average rate over the last century. This has resulted in a reduction of the North Pole ice cap by approximately 40% since 1980, with projections suggesting ice-free summers within 30 to 40 years.
• Environmental changes in the Arctic are creating both risks and economic opportunities. While rapid change stresses ecosystems and reduces food security for indigenous communities, retreating ice is increasing interest in industrial-scale shipping and resource extraction from Arctic nations and external actors including China, India, and the European Union.
• The IISD Arctic Initiative operates across four primary areas: climate change adaptation and food security (using tools like CRiSTAL and ADAPTool), the evaluation of extractive industries' contributions to development, the development of sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy, and the creation of transformative knowledge through participatory dialogues.
• Shipping activity in the Northern Sea Route has seen a significant increase, with cargo ship transits rising from 5 in 2009 to 71 in 2013.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2015). Arctic Initiative. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/IISD_Arctic_Brochure_2014_online.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Arctic Initiative. 2015. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/IISD_Arctic_Brochure_2014_online.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Arctic Initiative |date=March 2015 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/IISD_Arctic_Brochure_2014_online.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2015arctic, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Arctic Initiative}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/IISD_Arctic_Brochure_2014_online.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }