Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy Volume 8 Issue 1 3-1-2018 Arctic Law & Policy Year in Review: 2017 Arctic Law & Policy Institute, University of Washington Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wjelp Part of the Environmental Law Commons Recommended Citation Arctic Law & Policy Institute, University of Washington, Arctic Law & Policy Year in Review: 2017, 8 WASH. J. ENVTL. L. & POL'Y 106 (2018). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wjelp/vol8/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at UW Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy by an authorized editor of UW Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. : Arctic Law & Policy Year in Review: 2017 Copyright © 2018 by Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy ARCTIC LAW & POLICY YEAR IN REVIEW: 2017 Arctic Law & Policy Institute, University of Washington* I. INTRODUCTION: ARCTIC NEWS HIGHLIGHTS According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2017 Arctic Report Card, while 2017 did not shatter as many records as 2016, the Arctic shows no sign of returning to the reliably frozen region it was decades ago.1 Arctic temperatures continue to increase at double the global rate.2 2017 marked the end of the United States’ chairmanship of the Arctic Council and the beginning of another term for Finland. At the May 11, 2017 Fairbanks Ministerial hosted by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson – the first ministerial in which all eight member states were represented by their Foreign Ministers – the Arctic Council member states adopted the Fairbanks Declaration and the Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation, the council’s third legally binding agreement.