Canada Makes a Claim to the North Pole
'The mystique of the North Pole, at the very top of the world, has long driven explorers to risk their lives in the Arctic — while those of us not so adventurously inclined look on in awe. Now, three northern nations are vying to stake their claim to part of the Arctic seafloor, a region chock-full of fossil fuels that lies under thousands of miles of water and ice.
Late last month, Canada threw its metaphorical hat into the ring, joining Russia and Denmark in arguing that science is on their side in laying claim to almost half a million square miles of underwater Arctic territory, based on the extent of its continental shelf — including the geographic North Pole.
After the Canadian submission is evaluated by the U.N. committee, probably in several years' time, the three nations will start negotiations on the final delimitations of their Arctic territory, including their competing claims to the pole. Regardless of the outcome, the seawater and ice above the North Pole will remain an area of open navigation for ships from any country, said Michael Byers, the author of "International Law and the Arctic" (Cambridge University Press, 2013).
Canada, Denmark and Russia are likely to be more interested in undersea fuel reserves that lay closer to their coastlines than in the distant and frozen North Pole, said political scientist Andreas Østhagen of the Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Norway.
"They are struggling to utilize or exploit resources that are much closer to shore," Østhagen told Live Science. "So, from a resource perspective, I don't really see how this matters at all."
Ownership of the North Pole itself is an important symbol of national prestige, however. "This plays into the narrative of Arctic sovereignty, protecting your Arctic territory, and upholding your Arctic presence," he said. "The North Pole is a symbolic prize in all this."
Byers said that Canada, Denmark, and Russia have all agreed to abide by the results of the UNCLOS negotiations.
"This is a really exciting story about science being used to resolve issues that otherwise might cause tensions between different states," he said.'
|
