As Arctic ice melting is at its biggest ever recorded, the five countries bordering the region step up their bids for control of Arctic territory.
The ice melting is now about to turn the Arctic into an island surrounded by open water for the first time ever.
One of the potentially biggest disputes in the region will be the control over the Northwest passage. Last week Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay confirmed that a permanent army reserve in the country’s North as part of Ottawa’s effort to protect Arctic sovereignty.
The New York Times now calls on the involved countries and the international society to settle all disputes around the negotiation table.
“The only tolerable way to shape the future of the Arctic is through international cooperation, not a sovereignty battle. There is more to protect than access to valuable resources and shortened shipping routes. There is a desperately endangered and fragile ecosystem as well, which is threatened both by global warming and by the commercial development warming allows”, the newspaper writes.
Map: Russian, Canadian, Norwegian, Danish and U.S. claims in the Arctic (university of Durham)
