Thanks to our Norwegian colleagues for internet hosting this workshop, and thanks to your management on One Well being within the Arctic. I’m happy to see such a various group of individuals participating on One Arctic, One Well being.

I’ve positioned a heavy emphasis on taking a One Well being method in my bureau.  We acknowledge the linkages between the well being of individuals and the well being of the planet. We additionally acknowledge that local weather change has profound impacts on well being – human well being in addition to the natural world we work together with. And once I take into consideration the Arctic area, one concern involves thoughts earlier than nearly some other:  local weather change.

Tackling the well being results of local weather change – in a area warming at 4 occasions the worldwide common charge – requires a One Well being method and urgency. So your work is on the entrance strains.  It’s important that we use tabletop workouts like this one to simulate and higher perceive the complicated dynamics between local weather, people, and animal communities.

On the similar time, I acknowledge that there’s extra to One Well being than local weather change.  I’m happy to see zoonotic avian influenza can also be a part of this week’s simulation. We’re all too conscious of the pandemic menace right here, and the necessity to handle this concern with a sturdy human-animal-environmental method.

I’d additionally like us to acknowledge the significance of indigenous communities as very important sources of knowledge and because the main responders to Arctic emergencies. We should always rejoice and applaud the sturdy participation and dedication from indigenous communities on these very important points.  It is a hallmark of the Arctic Council, and it’s a practice of doing diplomacy within the Arctic that we should proceed to construct upon.

Addressing One Well being, local weather resiliency, and Arctic sustainable improvement calls for built-in motion and management.  That’s what the Arctic Council is designed to ship, and that’s why your management is so vital.

America just lately launched its Nationwide Technique for the Arctic Area.  Of the 4 pillars that make up the technique, I’m going to the touch on two:  1) Local weather Change and Environmental Safety, and a couple of) Worldwide Cooperation and Governance. On local weather change and environmental safety, the U.S. authorities is dedicated to constructing resilience to the impacts of local weather change and conserving Arctic ecosystems. On worldwide cooperation, regardless of the challenges to Arctic cooperation brought on by Russia’s battle in Ukraine, the USA will proceed to maintain establishments for Arctic cooperation and place these establishments to handle the impacts of accelerating exercise within the area. An amazing instance of the nexus of those two pillars is discovered within the work of the Arctic Council.  The Arctic Council is the foremost intergovernmental discussion board that encompasses each environmental safety and worldwide cooperation within the Arctic.

We’re proud to have been deeply concerned in its work for greater than 26 years for the reason that signing of the Ottawa Declaration, and we proceed to help the Council as we conduct its vital work going ahead, together with right here, in Norway, by way of the work you’re doing at present through the Sustainable Improvement Working Group’s One Arctic, One Well being Undertaking. This exercise represents a key instance of how Arctic Council stakeholders can proceed to advance regional well being safety and local weather resilience, even amid these difficult occasions.

As a part of this Nationwide Technique, the U.S. authorities reiterates its dedication to coordinating, and co-managing with U.S. Indigenous Arctic inhabitants, their communities, and organizations. We acknowledge that Indigenous communities are on the coronary heart of every thing we do within the Arctic, from addressing well being, water, and power safety in a altering local weather, to monitoring and defending the well being of Arctic ecosystems.

Thanks to your time.  I want you all a really profitable workshop.