War Builds over Arctic?

Canada joins rush to claim Arctic
U.S., Norway, Denmark also competing to secure rights to region's natural resources

Canada raised the stakes in the battle to claim ownership of the Arctic by sending Stephen Harper, prime minister, on a three-day trek to the region, just days after the Russians planted a flag on the seabed at the North Pole.

The US, Norway and Denmark are also competing alongside Russia and Canada to secure rights to the natural resources of the Arctic.

The Northwest Passage, which is the main focus of the dispute, has become a sought-after territory thanks to global warming, which has begun to melt the ice in these waters, exposing a potentially vast haul of natural resources.

Studies have estimated that the Arctic has as much as 25 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas.

The melting ice could also open up a route through the Arctic archipelago that could shave off as much as 6,500km on a journey between North American and Asia, instead of using the Panama Canal.

“Our government has an aggressive Arctic agenda,” Dimitri Soudas, Mr Harper’s spokesman, said on Wednesday.

“The Russians sent a submarine to drop a small flag at the bottom of the ocean. We’re sending our prime minister to reassert Canadian sovereignty,” said a senior government official, according to Canadian press.

Since the Russian expedition was discovered last month, Mr Harper has faced increasing pressure to fight back.

“Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty over the Arctic,” said Mr Harper as he announced plans last month to spend about C$3.1bn (€2.14bn) on the construction of up to eight patrol vessels capable of breaking through much of the Arctic ice. “We either use it or lose it. And make no mistake – this government intends to use it.”

Mr Harper is also expected to name the site for a long-promised deepwater port in the region as well as asserting Canada’s claim over Hans Island, at the entrance to the Northwest Passage.

According to some estimates, the Arctic contains billions of tonnes of gas and oil deposits, which could become more accessible as the ice cap that cover them begins to melt. This is happening just as their exploitation becomes more economically viable because of high hydrocarbon prices.

Russia is seeking to claim more than the 200 nautical miles north of its territory that it is allotted by the UN treaty on the law of the sea, claiming thousands of square miles it says are connected to its continental shelf.

Both Canada and Denmark have dismissed Russia’s claims, arguing that its geological claims have no political significance.

The US’s position is complicated as it has not ratified the UN treaty, which means it cannot directly object to Russia’s claim. Rather than focusing on hydrocarbons rights in disputed waters, the Bush administration has focused on developing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as an energy source.