Source: Euractiv
12 May 2011 - The seventh annual Arctic Council has opened in Greenland today (11 May) as secret US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks show that nations are racing to carve up the region’s oil, gas and mineral resources, as its ice retreats because of global warming.
Greenland is an autonomous territory under Danish sovereignty, but the cables show that US diplomats believe it "is on a clear track to independence," which they also see as "a unique opportunity" for American gas and oil companies.
A Greenlandic official is quoted describing his "country" as "just one big oil strike away" from independence.
The Arctic is estimated to hold about a quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves.
In another cable, the then-US Ambassador to Denmark, James P. Cain, says that he has introduced "some of our top US financial institutions" to two of Greenland's governmental ministers "to help the Greenlanders secure the investments needed for such exploitation".
At one point, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller jokes with the Americans that "if you stay out, then the rest of us will have more to carve up in the Arctic".
The cables have leaked as Hilary Clinton became the first US Secretary of State to attend an Arctic Council meeting today, signalling the region's rising importance in Washington.
"This is an important innovation in the architecture of regional and global cooperation," Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said of the Council earlier this week.
Due to rising temperatures, summer ice around the Arctic may soon disappear, devastating the livelihoods of indigenous peoples and threatening polar bears and other polar mammals.
But it could also increase access for shipping, mining and oil and gas exploration and countries including Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia have already staked claims in the region.
For the complete article, please see Euractiv.
The momentum for climate action we are witnessing is extraordinary. Throughout 2019, millions of people took the streets all around the world to join the youth climate movement's school strike. Yet at this year’s most important climate politics meeting, the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, most governments were far from committing to sufficient action to avert dangerous climate change. Dr. Beatrice Mosello and Dr. Virginie Le Masson explain how to move things forward.
Climate action is best achieved through multilateral efforts involving an array of actors and stakeholders. The news coming out of climate talks can also be as wide and varied. To keep you posted on the latest happenings surrounding COP25 we'd like to share with you 10 of our favourite Twitter accounts.
If the United Nations is to effectively deal with climate-related security risks, it needs expert support from every region. That’s where the Climate Security Expert Network comes in.