Thursday, October 14, 2021

European Union to seek ban on oil and gas exploration in the Arctic

Arctic has warmed 3 times as fast as the planet during the

 last 50 years

A picture taken in 2016 shows an icebreaker, right, at the port of Sabetta in the Kara Sea shore line on the Yamal Peninsula in the Arctic circle. On Wednesday, the European Union said it plans to seek ban on oil and gas exploration in the Arctic (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images)

The European Union (EU) will seek a ban on tapping new oil, coal and gas deposits in the Arctic to protect a region severely affected by climate change, according to a proposal for the bloc's new Arctic strategy published on Wednesday.

The European Commission proposal reflects the EU's efforts to boost its role on the global stage, although it has limited influence in the Arctic. It is not a member of the Arctic Council, which is the regional co-ordinating body, though three of its states — Denmark, Finland and Sweden — are.

"The EU is committed to ensuring that oil, coal and gas stay in the ground, including in Arctic regions," the EU executive's proposal said, while acknowledging that the bloc itself still imports oil and gas extracted in the region.

"To this end, the commission shall work with partners towards a multilateral legal obligation not to allow any further hydrocarbon reserve development in the Arctic or contiguous regions, nor to purchase such hydrocarbons if they were to be produced."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country is one of the world's largest oil and gas exporters and excavates fossil 
fuels in the Arctic, said Moscow would eventually benefit from such a ban because of rising prices.
 
"If such decisions lead to a certain price volatility, [Russia's economy] wouldn't suffer that much. That's because we will reduce production, but will get the prices we wanted," Putin told an energy conference in Moscow.

Vulnerable to climate change

The Arctic is one of the regions most affected by climate change. It has warmed three times as fast as the planet during the last 50 years. This has caused the ice covering land and sea to melt, sea levels to rise and permafrost to thaw.

The EU also aims under its new strategy to strengthen research into the effects of thawing permafrost that may put oil fields at risk and threaten to release greenhouse gases as well as dangerous germs locked in the frozen ground.

"Over 70 per cent of Arctic infrastructure and 45 per cent of oil extraction fields are built on permafrost," said the document, which must still be approved by the EU's 27 member states.

Potential mitigation measures could include the development of methods for local cooling and stabilizing, and the introduction of tougher building standards, the commission said.

It also suggested the creation of a monitoring and early warning system to detect germs such as anthrax being released from the thawing ground.

The Arctic Council comprises Canada, Iceland, Norway, Russia and the United States as well as the three EU states, along with six Indigenous organizations. It acts as a forum for co-operation. The EU has applied for observer status.

To boost its regional presence, the EU plans to open an office in Greenland's capital Nuuk as the United States did last year.

EU aims for greater Arctic role and calls for

 oil, coal and gas to stay in the ground


Bloc says it needs to play greater part in region, citing

 global heating and possible tensions over resources


A polar bear in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Joe Biden has suspended oil drilling licences in the area. 
Photograph: Ron Niebrugge/Alamy


Jennifer Rankin in Brussels
THE GUARDIAN
Wed 13 Oct 2021 

The European Union has called for oil, coal and gas in the Arctic to stay in the ground, as it announced aspirations to play a greater role in the world’s northernmost region.

The EU, which has three member states with Arctic territory, said there was a “geopolitical necessity” for it to be involved in the region, as global heating opens up competition for resources and the prospect of new shipping lanes.

In a policy paper published on Wednesday, the European Commission promised to aim for “a multilateral legal obligation not to allow any further hydrocarbon reserve development in the Arctic or contiguous regions”, which would include a pact not to buy any fossil fuels that are developed.

Earlier this year the US president, Joe Biden, suspended oil drilling licences in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, undoing a decision made by his predecessor Donald Trump. The Canadian government also issued a five-year moratorium on drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean in 2016.

But the other large Arctic state, Russia, is highly unlikely to join any moratorium any time soon. For Russia, the Arctic’s natural resources are worth 10% of its economic output, and the Kremlin is considering new shipping lanes. Last year, Rosneft started drilling two wells in the Kara Sea in the Russian Arctic after an earlier project was suspended because of problems linked to western sanctions.

A boat navigates a large iceberg in eastern Greenland. 
Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP

The EU is a net importer of Arctic oil and gas and estimates it is responsible for 36% of the Arctic’s black carbon deposits, which accelerate global heating by darkening icebergs and land that would otherwise reflect back the sun’s rays.

The EU commissioner for the environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, said: “The Arctic region is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet. The melting of ice and thawing of permafrost in the Arctic further accelerate climate change and have huge knock-on effects.” Sinkevičius promised a strong link between the EU’s Arctic engagement and climate policy.

The document was drawn up by Sinkevičius and the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. It also reflects an anxiety not to allow other powers, such as Russia and China, to dominate the region. “Intensified interest in Arctic resources and transport routes could transform the region into an arena of local and geopolitical competition and possible tensions, possibly threatening the EU’s interests,” the paper states.

Five of the Arctic Council’s eight members are either EU member states (Sweden, Finland, Denmark) or closely associated with the EU (Norway and Iceland). Denmark’s Arctic territory, Greenland, chose to leave the European Economic Community in 1985, although it remains a self-governing part of Denmark. The EU now wants to establish an office in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital.

Canada, Russia and the US are the other three members of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental body intended to promote cooperation in the region.

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