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Squabble over the Arctic

The prospect of designating the Arctic region — one of the world’s life-sustaining and most fragile ecospheres — as a demilitarised zone free from territorial disputes and dedicated solely to international scientific cooperation, along the lines of the Antarctic treaty system on the South Pole, has receded. Five countries of the Arctic coastline declared at the recent Greenland summit that the existing dispensation under the United Nations Convention on t he Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adequate to address the multifarious “challenges and opportunities” thrown up by the rapid melting of the polar ice in the oceanic seabed. Indeed, the stance of the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway, and Denmark on the proposed treaty does not conceal the scramble among them for the control of new shipping routes, untapped oil and gas reserves, and commercial fishing rights that would be thrown open when the melting of Arctic ice-cover in the summer touches 100 per cent, which is expected to happen in a few decades. To assert their territorial claims, these countries have been dispatching scientific expeditions to prove that the continental shelves originating in their coasts extend beyond the 200 nautical miles allowed under the UNCLOS.

It has been estimated that the Arctic contains about a quarter of the world’s untapped oil reserves and it is natural that proximate states should seek to exploit the geographical advantage. While the vision of a conflict-free arena on the North Pole may seem utopian, greater international cooperation, transparency, and accountability are the imperatives of sustainable development in the context of the adverse consequences deep-sea exploration and resource extraction will have for climate change. This would mean better compliance with the obligations under the 1992 UN Convention on Climate Change. The stance adopted by the Arctic countries at the recent summit however reflected a scramble for territory. The broad-based Arctic Council — comprising, besides the five countries, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland and providing representation for indigenous people — should be further strengthened to chart a plan for sustained development. The strategy for the Arctic should be consistent with the global targets to contain greenhouse gas emissions which reduce the ice-cover that reflects the sun’s rays and protects the planet from excessive warming.

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