NATO Commander: Warming Could Spark Conflict in the Arctic
Climate change could lead to Arctic conflict, warns senior Nato commander
Global warming and a race for resources could spark a
new 'cold war' in the Arctic, US naval admiral warns ahead of key talks
on environmental security
The Guardian (U.K.), Oct. 12, 2010
One of Nato’s
most senior commanders has warned that global warming and a race for
resources could lead to conflict in the Arctic.
The comments, by
Admiral James G Stavridis, supreme allied commander for Europe, come as
Nato countries convene on Wednesday for groundbreaking talks on
environmental security in the Arctic Ocean.
The discussions,
in the format of a "workshop", with joint Russian leadership, are an
attempt to create dialogue with Moscow aimed at averting a second cold
war.
"For now, the
disputes in the north have been dealt with peacefully, but climate
change could alter the equilibrium over the coming years in the race of
temptation for exploitation of more readily accessible natural
resources," said Stavridis.
The US naval
admiral believes military forces have an important role to play in the
area – but mainly for specialist assistance around commercial and other
interests.
"The cascading
interests and broad implications stemming from the effects of climate
change should cause today's global leaders to take stock, and unify
their efforts to ensure the Arctic remains a zone of co-operation –
rather than proceed down the icy slope towards a zone of competition, or
worse a zone of conflict," he added.
Stavridis made his views known in a foreword to a Whitehall paper, entitled Environmental security in the Arctic Ocean: promoting co-operation and preventing conflict, written by Prof. Paul Berkman, head of the Arctic Ocean geopolitics programme at the University of Cambridge.
The discussions,
which take place at the Scott Polar Institute where Berkman is based,
have been given impetus by the speed of change around the north pole
where the ice cap is melting and oil and other minerals are becoming
available for extraction.
In recent weeks,
Cairn Energy has announced the first oil and gas discoveries off
Greenland and a wave of new mining licences are about to be awarded
there. There are similar moves to produce gas in the far north of Russia
and Norway, all in the shadow of BP’s Gulf of Mexico’s oil spill.
Vladimir Putin,
the Russian prime minister, spoke about our "common responsibility" at
the international forum on the Arctic in Moscow two weeks ago. He is
aware the melting ice offers access to reserves of oil and minerals, as
well as new shipping lanes, but that the Arctic is an “area for
cooperation and dialogue.”
Berkman, a key
figure in organising the workshop, with funding from the Nato science
for peace and security programme, said the challenge is to balance
national and common interests in the Arctic Ocean in the interests of
all humankind.
"Strategic
long-range ballistic missiles or other such military assets for national
security purposes in the Arctic Ocean are no less dangerous today than
they were during the cold war. In effect, the cold war never ended in
the Arctic Ocean."
One of the first
speakers at the workshop will be Prof Alexander Vylegzhanin, who is
codirecting the workshop from the Russian Academy of Sciences. He will
be followed by former US ambassador Kenneth Yalowitz; European
Parliament vice-president, Diana Wallis; and Canadian high commissioner,
James Wright.
There will also
be contributions from senior British, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic and
Norwegian delegates with participants from 16 nations.
Building on the
interdisciplinary discussions with academics, government administrators,
politicians, and industry representatives, Berkman said the workshop
should be a major first step towards building a dialogue that both
considers strategies to promote co-operation as well as prevent conflict
in the Arctic Ocean.
As Stavridis
noted: "Melting of the polar ice cap is a global concern because it has
the potential to alter the geopolitical balance in the Arctic heretofore
frozen in time."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
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