Territorial claims in the Arctic
Why do countries need the Arctic?
Why do countries need the Arctic? l l is a resource-rich region holds up to 20 percent of the world's undiscovered and recoverable oil and natural gas, including an estimated 90 billion barrels of oil.
What parts does the Arctic consist of? l land territorial waters international waters commonly known as "High seas"
Who is the boss? l Canada, Norway, Russia, Denmark (via Greenland), and the United States (via Alaska) = ‘THE ARCTIC FIVE’
What is the law? 1982 - the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1994 – came into force) defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world's oceans, etc
What are the issues of the Convention? l navigation transit regimes exclusive economic zones continental shelf jurisdiction deep seabed mining exploitation regime scientific research l settlement of disputes l l l
What does the law say? l l international waters including the North Pole and the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it, are not owned by any country. The five surrounding Arctic countries are limited to an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km) adjacent to their coasts.
But… We want oil! l Upon ratification of the Convention, a country has a ten-year period to make claims to an extended continental shelf which, if validated, gives it exclusive rights to resources on or below the seabed of that extended shelf area.
Did they do it? l l l Norway ratified the convention in 1996 Russia ratified in 1997 Canada ratified in 2003 Denmark ratified in 2004 The US has signed, but not yet ratified
Territorial fights l l the Lomonosov Ridge Russia VS Canada VS Denmark
Arktika 2007 l Artur Chilingarov
The Lomonosov Ridge l l l On August 4, 2015, Russia resubmitted its bid Russia is claiming 1. 2 million square kilometers of Arctic sea shelf extending more than 350 nautical miles (about 650 kilometers) from the shore. No answer
Hans Island Canada VS Denmark
“Zone without borders” l China, South Korea and Japan + India The Arctic Council (an international organization for preserving natural resources of the Arctic)
the Arctic is the cold zone of hot disputes