FACT SHEET: Implementation Plan for the United States’ National Strategy for the Arctic Region

The Biden-Harris Administration continues to take bold action to meet the urgency of the climate crisis and to protect our lands and waters for future generations. This ambitious climate and conservation agenda is evident in the recently released National Strategy for the Arctic Region (NSAR), which sets an affirmative U.S. agenda for the Arctic over the next ten years. An update of its 2013 predecessor, the NSAR addresses the climate crisis with greater insistence and directs new investments in sustainable development to improve livelihoods for Arctic residents, while conserving the environment. It also positions the United States to effectively balance the need for continued cooperation and collaboration in the region with increasing strategic competition, exacerbated by Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine and the People’s Republic of China’s escalating efforts to garner influence in the region.

Today, the Administration is releasing the Implementation Plan for the NSAR (NSARIP). The NSARIP serves as a blueprint for an approach to realizing the vision set out in the NSAR and ensures continued collaboration with the wide array of stakeholders with interests in the Arctic. The NSARIP details more than 30 objectives and 200 discrete actions that advance the four mutually reinforcing pillars of the National Strategy.

Each strategic objective in the NSARIP assigns lead and supporting agencies, potential external partners, timeline for completion, and measures for progress. Like the National Strategy, the Implementation Plan benefitted from input from a wide range of stakeholders concerned about the Arctic Region, both in the United States and in other nations.  The United States Government will continue to update the Implementation Plan periodically as conditions in the Arctic evolve.

Read the full National Strategy here; Read the full Implementation Plan here

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