Objective-2

Communicate to the public, policy makers, and legislators around the world the importance of mitigating Greenhouse gas emissions to polar bear conservation

Communicate to the public, policy makers, and legislators around the world the importance of mitigating Greenhouse gas emissions to polar bear conservation

The Circumpolar Action Plan (CAP) identifies climate change and the associated reductions in the extent and composition of sea ice to be the greatest threat to polar bear persistence. Climate change represents a global challenge which needs to be resolved in the international arena.  Therefore, work to communicate to the public, policy makers, and legislators around the world the importance of mitigating Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to polar bear conservation is a Polar Bear Range States responsibility, and will provide an important contribution toward achieving the vision of the Circumpolar Action Plan.

This requires the strategic dissemination of information about the vulnerability of polar bears to the impacts of climate change, as well as the bears' current and projected status. The Polar Bear Range States should also convey the impact of climate change on the Arctic environment, including on coastal Arctic people.

The work under Objective 2 in the 2020 – 2023 Implementation Plan will be broken down into three actions:

CCC-A2: Develop a climate change communications plan that outlines key messages (e.g., how climate change effects vary among subpopulations on both temporal and spatial scales, impacts to prey and denning habitat) regarding the threat to the Arctic and to polar bears from climate change and the need for the global community to reduce GHG emissions

CCC-A3: Identify strategic communications opportunities for the Range States to provide information regarding the threat to the Arctic and to polar bears from

Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceThe 2018-2020 2-Year Implementation Plan was adopted at the 2018 Meeting of the Parties (MoP) to the Agreement in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA. Progress on the 2018-2020 Plan was reported at the 2020 MoP in Norway. 

2018-2020 Implementation Plan Overview (click on table to view the document in a pop-up window)

2018-2020 Implementation Plan Progress Reports 
(Click on the icon to view the overall progress report. Report sections for each Action are

Progress on the 2015-2017 2-Year Implementation Plan was reported in November 2017 and is summarized below. The full report and individual reports can be found below.

2015-2017 Implementation Plan Overview (click on table to view the document in a pop-up window)

2015-2017 Implementation Plan Progress Reports 
(Click on the icon to view the overall progress report. Report sections for each Action are provided in the relevant sections below)

  List of Objectives and associated Actions of the CAP 2015 - 2027 implementation