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AY 2015 Year in Review
2014
October
31st – The second annual Arctic Circle event is held in Reykjavik, Iceland. The 2014 Arctic
Yearbook is launched.
22nd-23rd – US announces its priorities for its Arctic Council Chairmanship 2015-17, at a
Senior Arctic Officials meeting in Yellowknife. Its overarching theme is One Arctic: Shared
Opportunities, Challenges and Responsibilities.
November
17th-21st – The International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopts the International Code
for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code), and related amendments to the
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) to make it mandatory.
25th - Canadian Auditor General Michael Ferguson releases his audit of the Nutrition North
report, sparking debate on the best ways to address the high rates of food insecurity in the
Canadian Arctic and beyond.
28th – Early general elections were held in Greenland following a spending scandal. A three
party coalition government, led by Kim Kielsen, was formed consisting of the incumbent
Siumut and Solidarity parties alongside the Democrats.
December
11th – The head of the Northern Sea Route Administration, Alexander Olszewski, announces
that in the year to December 1, 2014, the volume of transit cargo through the Northern Sea
Route fell by 77%, from 1.176 million tons in 2013 to 274,000 tons.
14th – Denmark provides a submission for its Arctic Ocean extended shelf to the UN
Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), claiming just under 900,000km2.