The scramble to liberate the Arctic of its treasures heats up
Denmark has been the latest country to press claims over chunks of the Arctic. Last December, the Danish foreign minister Martin Lindegaard issued the respective letter to the UN, stating Denmark's plans to assert their position at the international Arctic stage.
Indeed, that region has become increasingly accessible in recent times, due to the melting ice. So, an increasing number of countries are presently scrambling to re-define the rules of transportation and access to the Artcic Ocean. And of course to take a piece of whatever resources lie beneath the ocean floor for themselves.
The "Arctic Five" (Russia, USA, Canada, Norway and Denmark) signed a joint declaration in 2008 on the right of sovereignty, including a stipulation that each of them could use the 200 nautical miles zone around its territorial shores. Denmark has been trying to provide scientific evidence that Greenland is geologically bound to the so called Lomonosov Ridge, the landmass under the North Pole. But the scientists haven't been able to dig under the ice pack yet.
Now that the ice isn't that thick any more, the so called Northeast Passage tends to remain accessible throughout the summer season. Even in winter, the ice gripping the North Pole is thinning out. Recent data shows that its surface amounted to only 14.5 million sq km last year, which is half a million sq km less than the average for the last 30 years.
Naturally, the interest to that region keeps increasing. In 2007, Russia symbolically planted its flag on the ocean floor, in an obvious demonstration of its claims. And Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has compared that act to that historic moment with the US flag on the Moon.
The US is also trying to exploit the oil and gas deposits in the Arctic. Some Greenpeace activists recently occupied an oil platform belonging to Shell, which was on its way from Hawaii to the Arctic. The act was in protest against the planned drilling in the area, the concern being that the environmental impact on the region would be devastating, and the industrial activities there would only contribute to the acceleration of climate change, bringing it to a point where it becomes irreversible.
But of course none of that is going to matter, because economic interest trumps everything else, and with the improved access to the region, and the vast amounts of fossil fuels awaiting to be dug out (about 25-30% of the total global reserves, according to most estimates), the scramble for the Arctic is certainly going to gain more speed as the time passes and the major players become ever hungrier. Could we expect the next conflict to be over the Arctic?
Indeed, that region has become increasingly accessible in recent times, due to the melting ice. So, an increasing number of countries are presently scrambling to re-define the rules of transportation and access to the Artcic Ocean. And of course to take a piece of whatever resources lie beneath the ocean floor for themselves.
The "Arctic Five" (Russia, USA, Canada, Norway and Denmark) signed a joint declaration in 2008 on the right of sovereignty, including a stipulation that each of them could use the 200 nautical miles zone around its territorial shores. Denmark has been trying to provide scientific evidence that Greenland is geologically bound to the so called Lomonosov Ridge, the landmass under the North Pole. But the scientists haven't been able to dig under the ice pack yet.
Now that the ice isn't that thick any more, the so called Northeast Passage tends to remain accessible throughout the summer season. Even in winter, the ice gripping the North Pole is thinning out. Recent data shows that its surface amounted to only 14.5 million sq km last year, which is half a million sq km less than the average for the last 30 years.
Naturally, the interest to that region keeps increasing. In 2007, Russia symbolically planted its flag on the ocean floor, in an obvious demonstration of its claims. And Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has compared that act to that historic moment with the US flag on the Moon.
The US is also trying to exploit the oil and gas deposits in the Arctic. Some Greenpeace activists recently occupied an oil platform belonging to Shell, which was on its way from Hawaii to the Arctic. The act was in protest against the planned drilling in the area, the concern being that the environmental impact on the region would be devastating, and the industrial activities there would only contribute to the acceleration of climate change, bringing it to a point where it becomes irreversible.
But of course none of that is going to matter, because economic interest trumps everything else, and with the improved access to the region, and the vast amounts of fossil fuels awaiting to be dug out (about 25-30% of the total global reserves, according to most estimates), the scramble for the Arctic is certainly going to gain more speed as the time passes and the major players become ever hungrier. Could we expect the next conflict to be over the Arctic?