Arctic research cooperation in a turbulent world

The Arctic sits at the leading edge of some of the most pressing problems the world faces today—coping with the growing and socioeconomically uneven impacts of climate change; finding an appropriate balance between economic development and conservation; and coordinating governance across local, regional, and international boundaries—all made more challenging by increasing populism and distrust of government, renewed great-power competition, rising geopolitical tensions, and fears about the stability of the rules-based international order. In the Arctic, as in the rest of the world, these issues are complex, interconnected, and compounding each other. In what follows, we elaborate on three central issues: current scientific understanding of the regional and global impacts of Arctic climate change, ensuring that Arctic research addresses the needs of Arctic peoples and communities, and the importance of sustaining Arctic cooperation in challenging geopolitical times.