Broken pieces of Arctic sea ice with a snow cover. Photo: Patrick Kelley, U.S. Coast Guard via Flickr.

State Secretary Sander Dekker (Education, Science and Culture) represents the Netherlands at the Arctic Summit organized by the White House..

Participants of the Arctic Summit at the White House. Photo: Connie Terrell, U.S. Coast Guard.

One of the goals of the summit is to improve and streamline scientific research. By sharing research results and optimizing the use of each other’s facilities, the world’s understanding of climate change will deepen. Better cooperation will make it easier to map the melting polar caps and the rise of the sea levels.

At the initiative of President Obama, representatives of eight Arctic states and 14 other countries have signed a declaration to improve scientific research cooperation. Other results announced by the White House, are aimed at strengthening a collective approach to “climate change mitigation and resilience, Arctic development, stewardship, and the needs of the region’s Indigenous peoples”.

The Netherlands has a unique position in Arctic research. It has no territorial stake in the Arctic, but Dutch scientific research is among the best in the world. The Netherlands is also a leading country in terms of sharing scientific research results and research facilities.