Government plan to contribute to Arctic concerns

MPS LAUNCH BID TO PROTECT ARCTIC
By Emily Beament, Press Association Environment Correspondent
Climate change must be recognised as an issue when it comes to oil and gas
drilling in the Arctic, MPs said today as they launched an inquiry into
protecting the region.
The parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee will look how climate change
might open the region to new commercial activities, and what the UK Government
can do to protect the fragile wilderness.
The committee said rising global temperatures were melting the Arctic sea ice,
paving the way for a new “oil and gas gold rush” around the North Pole, as
well as opening up shipping routes and new fishing grounds.
But the potential exploitation of the Arctic is set to be highly controversial,
with environmentalists warning about the damage to the region and the climate if
activities such as drilling for new fossil fuel supplies go ahead.
Greenpeace has staged already protests against UK company Cairn Energy, which
has been looking for oil off the coast of Greenland, over concerns an oil spill
would cause major ecological damage to the Arctic and that new sources of fossil
fuels would further push up global carbon emissions.
As he marked the campaign group’s 40th anniversary in the autumn, Greenpeace
UK’s executive director John Sauven said protecting the Arctic from companies
hunting of the “last drops of oil” would be a key future environmental
battle.
Today, the Environmental Audit Committee said that while the UK had no
jurisdiction over the Arctic, the inquiry will look at how the Government could
use its influence through measures such as regulation, incentives and treaties,
to ensure the region’s development was sustainable and took account of climate
change.
The UK has observer status on on the Arctic Council, which is made up of the
eight nations ringing the Arctic, indigenous peoples and a number of observer
states.
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the five states around
the North Pole – the US, Canada, Russia, Norway and Denmark, through Greenland –
are able to submit bids for Arctic territory in a process set to begin in
spring.
When the process ends in 2014, successful applicants will gain resource
rights.
Joan Walley, chairwoman of the Environmental Audit Committee, said: “Rising
global temperatures – caused by the burning of fossil fuels – ironically look
set to clear the way for a new oil and gas gold rush in the Arctic.
“We will be looking at what the UK Government can do to ensure that the Arctic
is protected and whether it is even possible to drill for oil and gas safely in
such remote regions.
“Concerns over climate change should be recognised internationally as a
limiting factor on any new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic.”
She added: “How the world deals with its remaining wildernesses will be a
crucial test of our civilisation’s stewardship of the planet in the 21st
century.
“Will we allow a free-for-all in the polar regions of our planet or can we
work together to protect, share and manage these areas responsibly?”
Ruth Davis, chief policy adviser to Greenpeace UK, said: “The reckless rush to
exploit Arctic oil, and the coalition Government’s blind support for it,
urgently need scrutiny.
“The oil industry has done all it can to avoid discussing the safety of
drilling in the most inhospitable conditions on the planet, where a spill would
devastate wildlife and be almost impossible to clean up.
“Hopefully this inquiry will force both the industry and the Government to
face up to the costs and risks of Arctic drilling before they are confronted by
a major spill.”S LAUNCH BID TO PROTECT ARCTIC
By Emily Beament, Press Association Environment Correspondent
Climate change must be recognised as an issue when it comes to oil and gas
drilling in the Arctic, MPs said today as they launched an inquiry into
protecting the region.
The parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee will look how climate change
might open the region to new commercial activities, and what the UK Government
can do to protect the fragile wilderness.
The committee said rising global temperatures were melting the Arctic sea ice,
paving the way for a new “oil and gas gold rush” around the North Pole, as
well as opening up shipping routes and new fishing grounds.
But the potential exploitation of the Arctic is set to be highly controversial,
with environmentalists warning about the damage to the region and the climate if
activities such as drilling for new fossil fuel supplies go ahead.
Greenpeace has staged already protests against UK company Cairn Energy, which
has been looking for oil off the coast of Greenland, over concerns an oil spill
would cause major ecological damage to the Arctic and that new sources of fossil
fuels would further push up global carbon emissions.
As he marked the campaign group’s 40th anniversary in the autumn, Greenpeace
UK’s executive director John Sauven said protecting the Arctic from companies
hunting of the “last drops of oil” would be a key future environmental
battle.
Today, the Environmental Audit Committee said that while the UK had no
jurisdiction over the Arctic, the inquiry will look at how the Government could
use its influence through measures such as regulation, incentives and treaties,
to ensure the region’s development was sustainable and took account of climate
change.
The UK has observer status on on the Arctic Council, which is made up of the
eight nations ringing the Arctic, indigenous peoples and a number of observer
states.
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the five states around
the North Pole – the US, Canada, Russia, Norway and Denmark, through Greenland –
are able to submit bids for Arctic territory in a process set to begin in
spring.
When the process ends in 2014, successful applicants will gain resource
rights.
Joan Walley, chairwoman of the Environmental Audit Committee, said: “Rising
global temperatures – caused by the burning of fossil fuels – ironically look
set to clear the way for a new oil and gas gold rush in the Arctic.
“We will be looking at what the UK Government can do to ensure that the Arctic
is protected and whether it is even possible to drill for oil and gas safely in
such remote regions.
“Concerns over climate change should be recognised internationally as a
limiting factor on any new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic.”
She added: “How the world deals with its remaining wildernesses will be a
crucial test of our civilisation’s stewardship of the planet in the 21st
century.
“Will we allow a free-for-all in the polar regions of our planet or can we
work together to protect, share and manage these areas responsibly?”
Ruth Davis, chief policy adviser to Greenpeace UK, said: “The reckless rush to
exploit Arctic oil, and the coalition Government’s blind support for it,
urgently need scrutiny.
“The oil industry has done all it can to avoid discussing the safety of
drilling in the most inhospitable conditions on the planet, where a spill would
devastate wildlife and be almost impossible to clean up.
“Hopefully this inquiry will force both the industry and the Government to
face up to the costs and risks of Arctic drilling before they are confronted by
a major spill.”

– Jim

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