U.S. to Assume Arctic Council Chair

Today, Secretary of State John Kerry is traveling to Iqaluit, Canada, to attend the biennial Arctic Council Ministerial, where he will begin a two-year term as Chairman of the Arctic Council.

Secretary Kerry will present the 2015-2017 U.S. Arctic Council chairmanship program, “One Arctic: Shared Opportunities, Challenges, and Responsibilities,” to the seven other Arctic Member States and six Permanent Participants of the Council.

U.S. chairmanship priorities include addressing the impacts of climate change; Arctic Ocean safety, security and stewardship; and improving economic and living conditions for people in the Arctic.

The Ministerial meeting and a subsequent press conference will be livestreamed on the Arctic Council website: http://www.arctic-council.org.

Follow Secretary Kerry’s travel via @JohnKerry, @MarieHarf, @StateDept, and @USArctic on Twitter and go to the Department’s Flickr account for the latest trip photos. Stay connected: http://blogs.state.gov/social-feeds and keep track of all of the Secretary’s travels at: http://www.state.gov/secretary/travel/index.htm.