Opening of the Northwest Passage triggering international disputes
Increased annual melting of Arctic ice is opening the waters of the Northwest Passage to navigation and other activities and may lead to sovereignty, natural resource and environmental protection disputes in an area that once was impassable. A New York Times editorial summarized the brewing areas of disagreement:
What was once solidly frozen is now, increasingly, accessible, leading to fierce disputes over territory and natural resources. Perhaps the biggest of these disputes is whom do the waters in the Northwest Passage belong to: Canada, or are they international?
Canada has already staked its claim, requiring foreign ships to report when entering waters within 200 miles of its northern shores. The previous limit was 100 miles. Canada is also backing a new search to find the Erebus and Terror — Sir John Franklin’s ships, which were lost during a 19th-century British expedition to the Arctic — in order to “take ownership of the history of this place,” as one historian put it.
Meanwhile, the United States, Canada and Russia are all busily mapping the underwater continental shelf in order to bolster claims to what are believed to be vast mineral deposits, including oil and gas.
In May 2006, American University's Inventory of Conflict & Environment published a useful case study entitled Canadian Sovereignty at the Northwest Passage. Polarwarming, which gives a Canadian perspective on these disputes, recently noted that "Prime Minister Harper has announced two key measures intended to bolster Canada’s Arctic sovereignty claim: mandatory registration for commercial shipping and a $100 million fund to generate a detailed geomapping of possible minerals and hydrocarbons deposits."
Beyond the disputes over territory and mineral deposits, some suggest that the Northwest Passage ecosystem faces a double threat from climate change and the economic development that is resulting from the open waters.
The legal issues relating to climate change and the Northwest Passage are the subject of an international symposium this week in Iceland. The 3-day Polar Law symposium, entitled: "Looking beyond the International Polar Year. Emerging and re-emerging issues in international law and policy in the Polar Regions," will cover issues including:
- What are the main emerging and re-emerging issues in international law and policy relating to the Polar Regions warranting international action?
- Are the current international legal and policy systems able to address these issues?
- What issues require immediate action by the international community?
- What issues will require action by the international community in the longer term?
- What steps should countries take to address these issues?
- Which of these issues warrant further detailed research by legal scholars and other disciplines?
While much of the discussion of future climate change litigation and dispute resolution focuses on anticipated harm from climate change, these emerging issues of sovereignty, economics, and environmental governance are reminders that climate change will create opportunity for some which will, in turn, lead to "fierce disputes."
