With the approval of the Arctic Council, GEF has been asked to fund a number of projects in northern Russia including contaminants in traditional country food, protection of the marine environment, conservation of flora and fauna, and an assessment of the impacts of climate change. The first project in northernRussia to successfully attract GEF fundingPersistent Toxic Substances in country foodwas facilitated by ICC which received an initial grant of USD 25,000 to develop the proposal, subsequently submitted by the councils Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) and the Russian Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON).

ICC continues to develop long-term links with the GEF building on an already good relationship with UNEP, UNDP, and the World Bank. In addition it is our aim to draw the attention of funding and implementation agencies to the need for additional work in this still sometimes forgotten region. ICC Canada went to Beijing to bring to the attention of the states and non-governmental organizations attending the Second Assembly of the GEF to the growing importance of the Arctic as an indicator region of global environmental health, in relation to climate change and transboundary contaminants, and the important role that the regions Indigenous peoples can play in implementing selected global conventions, particularly the CBD.

Our efforts were successful and since the April IPS consultation in Iceland, the Saami Council, AAC, AIA, and GCI accreditation materials have been submitted to and accepted by GEF. Since ICC and RAIPON were already accredited, this means that all PPs are now accredited NGOs to the Global Environment Facility. Indigenous Peoples Organizations (IPOs) will now be be acknowledged and grouped together as IPOs under the NGO category. This is the first time GEF will distinguish IPOs from other NGOs.