A report drafted by a UN special commission on Arctic ice melting and its consequences will be presented to the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting that will be held in Greenland on Thursday.
According to scientists, rapid changes that are taking place in the northern latitudes might seriously affect the climate. In fact, they are much more serious than those predicted earlier. The report points to eight main factors that are at the same time symptoms of and reasons for climate change. For one, a rise in temperature on the planet poses a threat to permafrost in the Arctic where greenhouse gases are in a frozen state. These gases, on their part, trigger global warming. In view of these factors, the scientists conclude that the Arctic will be fully freed from ice during the summer in 30 or 40 years, and the level of oceans will rise by almost 1,500 centimeters. Although, the ice-free Arctic paves the way for promoting shipping and industrial activity, the region’s ecological system might be destroyed. The Arctic Council was established in 1996 to protect the unique nature in the Northern Hemisphere, and its ministerial meeting will discuss the report drafted by scientists.
The member states of the Arctic Council – Russia, the U.S., Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden – admit that the Arctic has to be protected rather than conquered. However, there is a need to adopt legally binding decisions to upgrade the effectiveness of the council, says the director of Conservation Policy WWF Russia, Yevgeny Shvarts:
“Hopefully, at present, re-thinking is going on and groundbreaking decisions are being worked out. For one, a year ago, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev unexpectedly put forward an initiative at the G-20 summit on strengthening regional control over the oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, the Arctic and South-East Asia at the international level. I believe that Russia will present similar proposals to the Arctic Council,” Yevgeny Shvarts said.
It’s extremely important to adopt an international law on ecological protection of oil and gas producing regions in the Arctic. The consequences of a sudden accident in the Arctic are much more serious than those in the Gulf of Mexico, says Yevgeny Shvarts. The most vulnerable place is the Kara Sea which is rich in energy resources. According to preliminary assessments, there are 5 billion tons of oil and 10 trillion cubic meters of gas in the Kara Sea deposits. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that all industrial projects in the Arctic would undergo ecological examination. The Russian government has recently allocated 10 million Euros to implement a programme aimed at removing waste in the region. All Arctic regions of Russia, including Tundra and the islands in the Arctic shelf will be cleaned in the next three years. At the same time, the number of natural parks and reserves will be increased. One of them, “Ruskaya Arktika” or the “Russian Arctic” on the Archipelago Novaya Zemlya has already been established. Another one is being created together with the U.S. This is known as “Park Beringia”, a region of common heredity of Chukotka and Alaska, on the both sides of the Bering Strait. Moreover, indigenous people living in Alaska and Chukotka will be allowed visa-free travel to each other in the future. This is a step towards visa-free travel between Russia and the U.S. as a whole. At present, the two countries are planning to present a draft agreement on carrying out rescue operations in the Arctic to the members of the council.
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