Arctic nations square up as clamour for resources grows
Arctic nations square up as clamour for resources grows
With the Danes rebuffing Russia, and Canada laying further claim to the Northwest Passage, rising access to north pole reserves risks flashpoints
Robin McKie Science Editor
Saturday 17 September 2016 19.05 EDT
Kristian Jensen, Denmark’s foreign minister, gave a precise response last week to a request by Russia for the nations to enter bilateral talks over the ownership of the north pole. He flatly rejected the move. “We need to apply the international rules,” he told reporters.
The Russian request and the swift Danish response are intriguing. The United Nations is currently assessing Russian, Danish and Canadian claims to own sizeable chunks of the Arctic seabed. The Russian move was generally viewed as an attempt to strike a deal that would cut out Canada, while Denmark appears to believe its case is strong enough to exclude such manoeuvres.
One thing is clear. The Arctic is heating up in meteorological, political and environmental terms as nations fall over themselves to exploit the region.
Apart from Denmark’s rebuff of Russia’s Arctic overtures, Canadian explorers announced last week they had discovered the wreck of HMS Terror, one of the two ships belonging to British explorer Sir John Franklin’s doomed attempt to sail the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific. (The other expedition ship, Erebus, was discovered two years ago.) These two vessels have enormous symbolic importance because Canada believes they support its claim to own the passage, which other nations, such as the US, argue is international waters.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/17/arctic-exploitation-battleground
