ARCTIC nations are moving closer to an agreement that would divide the region’s seabed, hoping to avoid conflict over potentially extensive energy resources. Canada, the US, Russia, Norway and Denmark all hope to claim the lion’s share of the extended continental shelf that covers the North Pole.
For several years, the countries have been amassing geophysical data that are to be submitted to the UN for a final determination of international borders. Hundreds of billions of barrels of potential oil and gas resources, worth trillions of dollars, are at stake. Little wonder the competition has been fierce, with claims and counter-claims of sovereignty over millions of square kilometres of uninhabitable wasteland.
Nationalistic pride
Competition for Arctic resources has become a matter of national pride – and emotions have run high. In 2005, Canada and Denmark each sent gunboats to plant their respective flags on Hans Island, a rock...