Government Response to the International Relations and Defence Committee’s Report ‘Our friends in the North: UK strategy towards the Arctic’

This is the government's response, published 26 January 2024.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government's response marks most of the Committee's recommendations as "Agree", marks some as "Partially agree", and "Disagree"s with the proposal for an Arctic Ambassador or Envoy.

• On Russian sub-threshold activity, it marks the recommendation "Agree" and says it "regularly" considers how to respond to hybrid challenges bilaterally, in the JEF and in NATO, while noting that details of risk assessments "cannot always be publicly shared or attributed".
• On the Central Arctic Ocean fisheries agreement, it marks the recommendation "Agree", says it is "committed to joining the Agreement at the earliest possible opportunity" and is engaging with Parties on the accession process ahead of the next Conference of Parties in June 2024.
• On the Polar Code review, it "Partially agree"s, stating there is "no defined schedule for review" and that the Code "may be reviewed on any aspect, as needed", with a Post Implementation Review of the UK's own regulations.
• On ministerial engagement, it marks the recommendation "Agree" and says David Rutley MP has been appointed Minister for the Polar Regions and is establishing a Ministerial group on Arctic policy.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error