The Arctic Council is the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, Arctic indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular on issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

Arctic Council assessments and recommendations are the result of analysis and efforts undertaken by the Working Groups.
Decisions of the Arctic Council are taken by consensus among the eight Arctic Council States, with full consultation and involvement of the Permanent Participants.

The Chairmanship of the Arctic Council rotates every two years among the Arctic States. The Chairmanship of the United States will expire on May 2017 the next country to assume the Chairmanship will be Finland (2017-2019).

The Ottawa Declaration lists the following countries as Members of the Arctic Council:

• Canada
• Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands)
• Finland
• Iceland
• Norway
• The Russian Federation
• Sweden
• The United States of America

At One Arctic delegates are asked to choose a specific Working Group, with each delegate representing the interests of her or his assigned country/organization in their Working Group. Each Working Group will discuss a specific topic.

The Council's activities are conducted in working groups. One Arctic Working Groups to be simulated are

• Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP) that will discuss the topic “Enhancing environmentally sound management of hazardous waste”

• Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) that will discuss the topic “Improving economic and living conditions for arctic communities”

• Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) that will discuss the topic “Economic Exploitation of the arctic ocean: safety, security and stewardship”

• Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) that will discuss the topic “Addressing the impacts of climate change”

The Working Groups will formulate a Report to be presented to the Sao’s meeting.

This report will outline the groups’ recommendations on what actions should be taken by Member States/organizations to address the topics discussed in each of the Working Groups.