MAC: Mines and Communities

Arctic scramble heats up

Published by MAC on 2007-08-03


Arctic scramble heats up

3rd August 2007

Last month, we ran an article pointing out that mining companies are seeking to benefit from global warming by exploiting Greenland deposits previously rendered inaccessible due to heavy glacial cover. [http://www.minesandcommunities.org/Action/press1576.htm].

Now the Bush regime is intent on grabbing mineral resources under the fast-disappearing Acrtic sea ice. .But the administration still hasn't ratified the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea which, despite its weaknesses, [see: http://www.minesandcommunities.org/Action/press1077.htm] provides some protection for the claims of smaller nations.

Getting one up on the Americans, the Russian regime has now staked its own Arctic claim by sending two submersibles to plant the Russian flag on the ocean floor.


White House sees black gold in melting sea ice

By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY

2nd August 2007

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is worried about missing out on a bonanza of oil and other resources in the Arctic unless Congress approves a treaty that helps determine who has rights to the area's wealth.

Arctic sea ice has decreased nearly 20% in the last two decades as the Earth's climate warms, making access to the area easier. The eight countries bordering the region, including the USA, are now staking competing claims.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic seabed and subsoil hold as much as 25% of the world's undiscovered oil and gas. Other resources such as nickel and diamonds also are present.

The melting ice also has led to increased traffic from ships seeking a shorter route between Europe, Asia and the Western Hemisphere. All Arctic border countries except the USA have signed a 1982 treaty * that establishes guidelines for where maritime boundaries should be drawn and a commission for resolving disputes. A two-thirds majority of the Senate is necessary to approve the law.

Ratification of the treaty "is a top priority for us," said John Bellinger, the State Department's top lawyer. "We've been watching as other countries are actively pursuing their own interests."

The treaty stipulates that countries can extract natural resources within 200 miles of their coast. Countries can claim more if they prove their continental shelf extends further into the sea.

Adm. Thad Allen, commander of the Coast Guard, said the treaty is "absolutely critical" and will aid U.S. law enforcement by clarifying rules and jurisdiction.

The treaty was not ratified in the 1980s because of opposition from Republicans who contended the treaty infringed on U.S. sovereignty. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the treaty in 2004, but it never got to a vote. Current Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., supports ratification but has not scheduled hearings until the fall.

Some conservatives, including Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., continue to oppose the treaty.

"Right now we have total control," Inhofe said. "There's still a little sovereignty left in America. Let's hold onto it."

*editorial note: The US has signed, but not ratified the Convention


Russia Claims North Pole

By Anne Penketh, The Independent

3rd August 2007

Russia has taken a giant leap for the Kremlin by planting its flag on the ocean floor under the North Pole in a politically charged symbolic gesture to claim the rights to the sea bed which could be rich in oil and gas.

In a dramatic technical feat testing international law, the Russians dispatched two mini-submarines 2.5 miles to the ocean floor in what is believed to be the first expedition of its kind.

Both submersibles, with crews of three on board, completed their dangerous return to the surface yesterday after what was described as a "smooth landing".

But the expedition raised the hackles of Russia's neighbours, who also have their eye on the vast mineral deposits that could lie under the Arctic area, and who consider the Russian move as a brazen land grab.

"This isn't the 15th century. You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say 'We're claiming this territory'," said Peter MacKay, Canada's Foreign Minister.

Russia has fired the first diplomatic shot in a really cold war. The new oil rush has been galvanised by the accelerated shrinking of the polar ice cap because of global warming, which has allowed exploration that had been previously unthinkable because of the extreme conditions.

Russia claims that the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater mountain range crossing the polar region, is an extension of its territory. The UN has rejected Moscow's 2001 claim to the ocean bed, which it says is part of its continental shelf under international law but the Russians are due to resubmit their case to the committee administering the Law of the Sea.

A brains trust of 135 Russian scientists, led by a 68-year-old personal envoy of President Vladimir Putin, the explorer Artur Chilingarov, plan to map out part of the 1,240-mile ridge.

But yesterday's scientific achievement of dropping a titanium capsule containing the Russian flag on to the seabed could not conceal the political advantage gained by Mr Putin. Once again, he has demonstrated to the West Russia's determination to expand its energy empire.

The news of the mission's success dominated Russian television yesterday. Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin's spokesman, said the President considered it "very important ... Being a unique scientific expedition, it is of course supported by the President."

The Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said: "I think this expedition will supply additional scientific evidence for our aspirations." But he added that the issue of territorial claim to the polar region "will be resolved in strict compliance with international law". If recognised, the claim would give Russia control of nearly half of the Arctic's near-half million square mile sea bed.

But four other countries - the US, Canada, Norway and Denmark - also have claims on the ocean floor which could hold as much oil and gas as Saudi Arabia. According to the US Geological Survey, the Arctic seabed and subsoil account for 25 per cent of undiscovered oil and gas reserves.

The Russian convoy, consisting of a research vessel and a nuclear-powered ice-breaker, and the two submersibles which had been used in the filming of Titanic, set sail from the northern Russian city of Murmansk last week, catching the world by surprise. Initial concerns that the expedition could be thwarted by thick sea ice proved unfounded, although the research vessel, the Akademik Fyodorov suffered from engine trouble on the journey.

Mr Chilingarov was on board the Mir-1, the first submersible to go down, and spent eight hours and 40 minutes under water. The last 40 minutes were tense, as the crew tried to find an opening free of ice. "It was so good down there," he said on his triumphant return. "If someone else goes down there in 100 or 1,000 years, he will see our Russian flag."

The Mir-2 had an international crew on board, including the Australian deep-sea specialist Mike McDowell who previously led tours to the Antarctic. The co-sponsor of the voyage, the Swedish pharmaceuticals millionaire Frederik Paulsen, was also on the submersible, according to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass.

In addition to the engineering challenge - which has been compared to the first moon landing - the dark depths of the Arctic waters are so mysterious that the Russian crew did not know what they would find. Vladimir Gruzdev, who accompanied Mr Chilingarov on Mir-1, mused before their dive: "What if we encounter Atlantis there? Nobody knows what is there. We must use the opportunity given to us 100 per cent." The operation was straight out of a Jules Verne story, with expectations that exotic underwater creatures would appear from the uncharted depths. But in a momentous anti-climax, the expedition's leader declared: "There is yellowish gravel down here. No creatures of the deep are visible."

While in the Arctic, until mid-September, the scientists will continue to study in detail the climate, geology and biology of the polar region. But the Russians had better watch their backs: the Danes hope to prove that the Lomonosov Ridge is an extension of Greenland, which is part of Denmark. Canadian and Danish scientists are currently on two icebreakers mapping the north polar sea.

And in a reminder of the Kremlin's aggressive use of its oil and gas wealth, the state-run Gazprom this week threatened to cut off gas to Belarus in a re-run of the economic bullying of Ukraine in 2006 that affected further supplies to Europe. Belarus owes Russia $460m for gas. Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus's President, yielded to the demand yesterday, after being promised a little help by the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. If Russia had carried out its threat, gas supplies to Germany and Poland would definitely have been at risk.

© 2007 Independent News and Media Limited

 

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