Description of Impact(s) (English Only) During her keynote speech in the Arctic Science and Innovation session held during the 2019 Arctic Circle China Forum: China and The Arctic, H.E. Ms. Lilja Alfreðsdóttir, Minister of Education, Science and Culture of Iceland, highlighted a finding from the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment to advocate for greater co-ownership by indigenous peoples of decisions and policymaking on nature:

"...What is the key message from me as a minister?...even though we have this very good dialogue with researchers and very talented and extremely forward-looking people...one of the things that we noticed is that 'nature managed by indigenous peoples and local communities is under increasing pressure, but it's generally declining less rapidly than in other lands' (IPBES 2019). What am I saying by this? Why am I highlighting this? I do that because it's very important that there is ownership of the policies. We need to think about the Arctic people. They need to be involved as regards to decision-making. We are not going to have successful decisions or policymaking, either global or local, unless we have the people that are there work with us."

The China Forum was held in the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum on May 10-11, 2019. The forum was hosted by China's Ministry of Natural Resources in collaboration with the Polar Research Institute of China and supported by the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai. Based in Reykjavík, Iceland, Arctic Circle is a "network of international dialogue and cooperation on the future of the Arctic and our Planet. It is an open democratic platform with participation from governments, organizations, corporations, universities, think tanks, environmental associations, indigenous communities, concerned citizens, and others. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan."