Bangladesh should have an observer seat in Arctic Council, argues research professor Kamrul Hossain, director of Northern Institute of Environmental and Minority Law.

Hossain makes his case in an article published in
The Polar Connection website. According to
him, admission of Bangladesh as an observer would offer the Council a broader
understanding of the Arctic’s links with the rest of the world and reinforce a
global approach to Arctic governance. The impacts of climate change on Bangladesh
and the Arctic, in particular their severity, link the two rather closely, prompting
consideration of their interrelationship. 

Currently,
Arctic Council’s Southeast and East Asian observers are China, Japan, Singapore and
South Korea. “Given the interlinkage between the impacts of climate change on
Bangladesh, the Arctic and other regions in the cryosphere, such as the Antarctic
and Himalayas, it would serve all parties’ interests if Bangladesh became a part of
the institutional mechanisms available in the Arctic”, says Hossain.

Additional information:

Research
professor Kamrul Hossain
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
kamrul.hossain(at)ulapland.fi
tel. +358 40 484 4281