US Mission Geneva

The Arctic Council presides over one of the Earth’s coldest places, but the warming of the Arctic and the overall planetary trend of climate change were the dominant topics as the council met May 15 in Kiruna, Sweden.

We’re focused on ensuring a secure, peaceful, and prosperous Arctic.

Secretary of State John Kerry will join counterparts from seven other nations May 15 to discuss their shared stewardship of the Arctic, its fragile environment and its unique biodiversity.

The Obama administration will continue to work with the World Bank and other multilateral institutions to promote global prosperity and to help low-income countries build resilience to climate change.

Washington State University will lead a new effort to develop wheat varieties that are better at tolerating the high temperatures found in most of the world’s growing regions — temperatures that are likely to increase with global warming.

The melting of Greenland’s glaciers in the summer of 2012 was as extensive as it has been in more than a century, and U.S. scientists now conclude that a very particular type of cloud formation made the difference.

The U.S. advocates a proposal to create a vast marine reserve in Antarctica’s Ross Sea, said Secretary Kerry and he emphasized the Obama administration’s renewed focus on climate change and environmental stewardship

Secretary Kerry and French Foreign Minister Fabius have voiced support for the proposed free-trade agreement between the United States and the European Union.

With climate change and illegal fishing threatening fish stocks and ocean health around the world, countries need to work together and with industry to manage access to fish, analysts say.