I attended the Arctic Circle Japan Forum, an international conference organized by the Arctic Circle, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and the Nippon Foundation.
The Arctic Circle Conference is usually held in Iceland 🇮🇸, but this time, a Forum was held in Tokyo to focus on Asia and the Arctic.
The Arctic Circle Conference was first proposed by former President Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson of Iceland. It is one of the world's largest international conferences for facilitating dialogue among political and business leaders, environmental experts, scientists and researchers, youths, indigenous representatives, and other international stakeholders to address issues facing the Arctic as a result of climate change and melting sea ice.
Below is a photo I took with a PhD students I met from Denmark 🇩🇰 who is researching about shipping and energy in the Arctic :
One of the most eye-opening sessions was a panel discussion with Indigenous Inuit peoples from the Arctic region including Greenland 🇬🇱, Canada 🇨🇦, and Alaska, where I learned about the Inuit peoples’ wisdom of nature and the effects of climate change on their ways of life.
It was a very enriching experience, where I gained new perspectives about the Arctic region!
Sources :