The Arctic Council is the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, Arctic indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic. The Council Member States are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the US. In addition, six organisations representing Arctic indigenous peoples have status as Permanent Participants. The Council operates a number of different Task Forces on issues such as Marine Cooperation, Search and Rescue, Oil Pollution Prevention, Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response etc.

The ARCSAR network addresses the Arctic and North-Atlantic (ANA) region, preparing to cope with the Security and safety threats that will result from increased commercial activity in the region including traffic through the Northern passages, cruise traffic, and offshore oil and gas activity. It aims to establish and support a new Arctic and North Atlantic Security and Emergency Preparedness Network for those involved in front-line security and emergency response, directly involving practitioners, existing networks, university stakeholders, research centres, industry, and those involved in governance, and policy-making.