Statement by Hill-Marta Solberg

Statement by Ms. Hill-Marta SolbergChair of the Standing Committee of parliamentarians of the Arctic Region16th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference27 August 2007Chair, Mr President, Excellencies, Distinguished Colleagues and Friends,It’s an honour for me to extend my warmest greetings from the Arcticparliamentary committee to you, the participants on the 16th Baltic SeaParliamentary Conference.Let me also give my compliments to the German organizers. Germany seems tobe hosting several big international meetings and conferences this summer, andmanage everything in a perfect manner.What happened here in Berlin in the November days of 1989 was a startingpoint for a new era of cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region as well as the Arcticregion. After their start in the beginning of the 90ies, the two organisations haveto a large extent focused on the same areas of cooperation.If we look at the agenda items for this conference it could easily have been anagenda for a meeting of Arctic parliamentarians. If we change “the Baltic SeaRegion” with “the Arctic region” we have an excellent agenda for the nextArctic parliamentary conference.Environmental issues, maritime policy and energy are on top of the politicalagenda in both the Baltic Sea cooperation and the Arctic cooperation. If we godeeper behind the headlines we will of course find that we have different waysof approaching the subjects. The Arctic cooperation is circumpolar, which givesthe cooperation valuable input from Canada and the US. At the next Arcticparliamentary conference, which will be in Fairbanks, Alaska in August 2008,1Statement by Ms. Hill-Marta SolbergChair of the Standing Committee of parliamentarians of the Arctic Region16th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference27 August 2007we plan to put energy, climate change and the international polar year on theagenda.The Arctic Ice sheet is melting. This fact is influencing most topics in the Arcticcooperation. The rise in sea temperature has dramatic consequences for theArctic region as well as the Baltic Sea. The melting ice makes the Arctic moreaccessible to marine activities. We are likely to witness an explosion ofactivities in the Arctic in the years ahead, exploiting the Arctics rich naturalresources. We need to find ways to regulate this activity.Chair,In my view the Arctic and the Baltic cooperation are both complementing andsupplementing each other. Participating on this conference gives me valuableknowledge and experiences which I can use in the Arctic cooperation. TheNorthern Dimension Parliamentary Conference in Brussels earlier this year, andfuture establishment of a Northern Dimension Parliamentary Forum, will be avaluable arena for learning, coordinating and giving full parliamentary backingto our policy for the High North.I wish you all a successful conference and a prosperous future cooperationbetween our two parliamentary bodies.Thank you for your attention.2