Source: The Telegraph
23 Sep 2010 - Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, called for calm in the battle for the Arctic's vast untapped energy resources, accusing unnamed forces of trying to stir up trouble.
Arguing that the region should be "a zone for peace," Mr Putin conceded that Russia's territorial claim for a vast swath of the Arctic was hotly contested and that different countries were vying to push their own geopolitical and economic interests.
However, he said the only way to deal with rival territorial claims was through negotiation in compliance with international law. He said doomsday scenarios of an armed struggle for the Arctic's resources were wide of the mark.
"A well-proven truth has long been apparent: it is hard to survive in the Arctic alone," he told a conference in Moscow. "Nature itself forces people, ethnic groups and even entire governments to help one another."
Mr Putin warned though that unnamed forces were trying to stir up trouble with "futuristic predictions about a looming battle for the Arctic", adding: "Most frightening scenarios of this kind are unfounded and have been calculated to get governments in the area to argue and clash with each other and then try to profit from it."
Analysts said Mr Putin was trying to defuse simmering tensions over who gets to exploit the Arctic's rich mineral wealth in future. Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway are all locked in a race to grab a slice of the northern wilderness after US researchers predicted that global warming might leave the area ice-free, and therefore more easily navigable and explored, as early as 2030. Experts say the region potentially contains one fifth of the world's oil and gas reserves and that the swath of Arctic territory claimed by Russia could be home to oil supplies double the size of Saudi Arabia's proven reserves.
For the complete article, please see The Telegraph.
Several climate security studies have assessed the risks of climate change to security and examined potential foreign policy responses, but the connection between climate change and foreign policy remains underexplored. The new Climate Diplomacy Report of the German Foreign Office takes up the challenge.
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan are currently engaged in vital talks over the dispute relating to the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile River. While non-African actors are increasingly present in the negotiations, the African Union (AU) is playing a marginal role.
Climate change was more central than ever at this year’s Munich Security Conference (MSC), the leading international forum for senior military, security and foreign policy leaders. The release of the inaugural “World Climate and Security Report 2020” (WCSR 2020) by the Expert Group of the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS) should help policymakers take effective action.
The mission of the Munich Security Conference is to “address the world’s most pressing security concerns”. These days, that means climate security: climate change is the ultimate threat multiplier, and anyone discussing food security, political instability, migration, or competition over resources should be aware of the climate change pressures that are so often at the root of security problems.