Who Owns the Arctic?

Danish warship sails into Greenpeace Arctic oil protest

Armed forces called in to prevent environmentalists interfering with Cairn Energy's exploration of Arctic waters

John Vidal, The Guardian, May 24, 2011

Armed Danish commandos are thought to have been landed on a giant oil rig by helicopter to prevent environmentalists interfering with a British oil company's controversial exploration of deep Arctic waters. In a stand-off in the Davis Strait, west of Greenland, the Danish navy has been shadowing the Greenpeace ship Esperanza as it tracked the 53,000 tonne Leiv Eiriksson in iceberg-strewn sea to the site where it plans to search for oil at depths of up to 5,000ft.

The Inuit prepare to defend their rights

The Economist, March 3, 2011

Ottawa - WHEN in the Arctic, you should at least treat your host well. Royal Dutch Shell, an oil giant, had to learn this the hard way when planning to drill exploration wells in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska a couple of years ago. The firm had spent $84m on offshore leases and had satisfied regulators. But it failed to win over the Inupiat, an Inuit group. They worried that icebreakers and drill ships would hurt the bowhead whales on which they depend. Their leaders and environmental groups sued American regulators for not following a 1970 law on environmental impacts. This allowed them to wrest a number of concessions from Shell, including a commitment to stop all offshore operations during the bowhead migration and hunt, should drilling ever proceed.

It could happen here

Canada should demand a moratorium on Arctic oil drilling until we're certain it will be done safely

Michael Byers, Ottawa Citizen, May 6, 2010

Concerns about offshore oil spills have prompted Stephen Harper to assure Canadians that our current safety standards will remain in place. But domestic rules won't protect Canada's coasts from spills next door, in Greenland and Alaska, where drilling is about to begin.

Companies such Imperial Oil, which had hoped to drill on the Canadian side of the Beaufort Sea this summer, were lobbying for a relaxation of the requirement for "relief wells." These parallel wells can be used to reduce the pressure -- and therefore the amount of oil escaping -- if and when a blowout occurs.

In the aftermath of the recent blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the companies themselves are calling for a pause. Which is a good thing, since any decision to relax -- or strengthen -- Canada's regulatory requirements should be fully informed and carefully considered.

But a de facto moratorium on drilling in the Canadian Arctic isn't enough, since oil spills do not respect international borders.

Danes join Canadians in Arctic mission

Unique sovereignty exercise aims to showcase co-operation, practise rescue and advance science

Patrick White, Globe and Mail, March 4, 2010 (with a report from The Canadian Press)

Two teams of Danish army pooches will mush alongside a large Canadian military operation in the Arctic next month, marking a thaw in relations between two countries often seen as rivals in the rush for Arctic spoils.

About 180 Canadian Forces members will participate in Operation Nunalivut, the latest exercise in a continuing campaign to assert the country's political and military presence in the High Arctic - an effort that falls short of what's needed to ward off territorial claims from other countries, some Arctic experts say.

No thaw in spat over symbol of Arctic sovereignty

A Canadian-Danish resolution on Hans Island could be 'a way of getting the ball rolling' on other northern ownership disputes

KATHERINE O'NEILL

Globe and Mail, September 8, 2009

The first and only time George Hobson set foot on Hans Island was 36 years ago.

Mr. Hobson, then head of the Polar Continental Shelf Project, a federal Arctic research program, flew more than two hours by Twin Otter to the rocky outcrop from Resolute Bay after receiving an urgent phone call from Ottawa.

The caller was former prime minister Jean Chrétien, who was then federal minister of Indian and northern affairs.

Hans Island: Denmark Responds

Letter to the Editor, Ottawa Citizen, July 28, 2005

Canada and Denmark are neighbours in the North, allies in NATO and the UN working closely together for peace and democracy in challenging spots like Afghanistan, the Middle East and Sudan. Indeed close friends in relations across the board. Canadians of Danish origin are numerous. Cultural and commercial exchanges flourish between us.

In the North the inuit populations of Greenland and Canada have communicated during centuries. Their oral languages are nearly identical. In order to emphasise the relationship and facilitate even closer cooperation in the future Denmark is in the final phase of opening an honorary consulate in Iqaluit, making Denmark the first country to be represented on the spot in Nunavut.

As in every real substantive friendship there are also tiny irritants like the territorial belonging of Hans Island. Issues to be dealt with deftly to strengthen the friendship.

Canada to start 'non-stop' year of mapping Arctic seabed

CBC News, January 26, 2009

Federal scientists will soon take on their most ambitious effort yet to map the Arctic Ocean seabed, four years before Canada's deadline to try to extend its Arctic sovereignty as part of an international treaty. ...

For the full story, see: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2009/01/26/cda-arctic.html

Greenland said yes to independence

BarentsObserver.com , November 26, 2008

75 percent of the voters in this Tuesday's referendum said Greenland's should be independent from Denmark. With its independence, Greenland becomes a sovereign key player in international Arctic issues.

Greenland has been a part of Denmark for the last 300 years. Now, the 56 000 inhabitants of the world's largest island could get independence. Greenland, or Kalaalit Nunaat as the native population calls it, is 2,2 million square kilometres big. 80 percent of that area is covered by ice. The ice cap is likely to hide huge quantities of natural resources, which could become a source of substantial income for the Inuits of Greenland.

Annually Denmark allocates Greenland approximately 550 million USD. Independence would give Greenland an opportunity to wean itself from this grant, and at the same time taking control of the expected amounts of natural resources in and around the island. However, the amounts of resources and their value it remains to be studied.

Greenland has come a long way economically the last few decades. Still, 40 percent of the population lives on 120 different isolated settlements along the coast with few job opportunities. This is one of the reasons why it may still take several decades before Greenland is able to declare complete independence from Denmark. The yes in this week's referendum is still one step in the country's strive towards full independence.

The big melt

Two trillion tons of ice have melted since 2003

Globe and Mail, December 16, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than two trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003, according to new NASA satellite data that show the latest signs of what scientists say is global warming.

Beware Danes' Arctic agenda, Canada warned

Dispute over Hans Island shows Denmark is a polar rival, experts says

Randy Boswell, Ottawa Citizen, May 27, 2008, A5

KANGERLUSSAQ, Greenland - It's Canada's forgotten neighbour, better known as the source of Havarti cheese and puff pastries than as a nation sharing 2,000 kilometres of our coastal waters -- or as a serious rival in the intensifying international competition for Arctic power and wealth.