Nordic Council

17 Aug Nordic Council

The Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council are intergovernmental forums consisting of ministers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Autonomous territories such as Greenland, Faroe Islands and Åland Islands are also represented since the Åland Document was ratified in 2007. The groups represent these nations and work to push initiatives in education, environment and research for the betterment of society and respective economies. Nordic countries have a much higher gross domestic product than their European counterparts. Although all countries felt the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nordic nations saw a decline of only 2.2% in 2020 due to the pandemic, compared to a decline in Europe’s economy of 6.6% in the same year.

In 2019, the Nordic Council of Ministers implemented Our Vision 2030, a strategy that will see the Nordic region become the most sustainable and integrated in the world by 2030. The strategy is run on environmental, economic and social sustainability pillars. Since the strategy was introduced, member governments have taken bold stances by implementing initiatives based on decarbonization, creating circular economies and combating inequality. Although the region did experience differences in terms of strategies for combating the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nordic countries’ robust economy has experts forecasting a fast recovery, with strong cooperation expected to continue.