Foreign Ministers from the eight member states of the Arctic Council will meet to discuss future challenges in the Arctic in Nuuk, capital of Greenland, on May 12.
Permanent participants representing the indigenous peoples of the Arctic, observers and NGOs will also attend the meeting, according to the Arctic Council's website.
The Arctic is undergoing significant changes as a result of climate change. In particular, the loss of ice cover has opened up potential for shipping and oil and mineral exploration. The Council said its stakeholders felt obliged to address the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow in the region.
The meeting is expected to focus on how the trend affects the inhabitants and the fragile biodiversity of the region.
The Arctic Council was established in 1996 with the signing of the Ottawa Declaration. Its members are Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
Since then, the Council has gradually evolved from only addressing environmental issues to serving as the pre-eminent forum where challenges and opportunities facing the eight Arctic states and their peoples are addressed.
The Kingdom of Denmark has chaired the Arctic Council since 2009 and will hand over the chairmanship to Sweden at Nuuk.
Nuuk is one of the northernmost capitals in the Arctic and the largest city in Greenland, with approximately 16,000 citizens.
Greenland, the largest island in the world and with more than 57,000 inhabitants, is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.