1. United States

Abstract

The United States worked with the other seven Arctic states on the initiatives and priorities of the Arctic Council. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge marked its fiftieth anniversary as the 19.2 million acre home to forty-two species of fish, thirty-seven species of land mammals, eight species of marine mammals, and more than 200 migratory and resident bird species. The State Department's negotiator on climate change indicated that the United States would adhere to the commitment in the Copenhagen Accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020 from the base year of 2005. The United States made this pledge on the assumption that other Annex 1 parties, as well as the more advanced non-Annex 1 parties, also associate themselves with the accord and submit mitigation actions. The United States is participating in the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Mitigation,...