At the end of the year, the Irish and British governments set up an Anglo-Irish intergovernmental council to discuss matters of common concern, especially security.
Both China and the European Union are seeking permanent observer status on the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum that includes the five Arctic coastal countries plus Finland, Iceland and Sweden.
The Arctic Council — the intergovernmental organization for the eight Arctic states: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States — has created a forum for cooperation and momentum toward a responsible approach to the region's issues.
Given that the region has no single government, the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum, works to promote coordination and interaction among the eight sovereign states (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States).
The council is the main intergovernmental forum for the five countries on the Arctic Ocean America, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia and three others in the Arctic Circle (Finland, Iceland and Sweden).
Even if that estimate is exaggerated, there is no reason to doubt that continued shrinking of Arctic ice cover will enhance the area's importance.Like South Korea and Japan, China hopes next month to be approved for permanent observer status on the Arctic Council, an eight-member intergovernmental body that seeks to co-ordinate policy for the area.
IF THIS week's report into the workings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by a council of national academies of science were the sort of report children take home from school, its main themes would be expressed as "could do better" and "needs to show workings".
And, most important of all, intergovernmental decision-making by 28 leaders in the European council has been taking over from the centralised diktats from a once overbearing European commission.
As the country that played a major role in pushing Iraq into this situation, the US should take the lead in bringing together various stakeholders including Iran, Turkey, the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Sunni Leadership (Military Council of the Tribes), the al-Maliki government and an intergovernmental organization such as the UN or the Arab League.
The Tories owe it to us to tell us what they mean, because they will have to tell the world at the end of the first European council they attend, when they discover there is no majority for calling the intergovernmental conference to change the treaty as they propose".
