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Is the Scramble Over the North Pole BackOn?Posted by KRISTA MAHR Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 3:55 am

1 Comment· Related Topics: Arctic, Greenland, north pole, Russiao

Map ofthe polar region, showing Peary's 1909route to the North Pole. (Corbis)

For all its remoteness, the North Pole generates a lot of controversy. In 1909, the Americanadmiral Robert Peary reported that he successfully reached the geographic North Pole, a featof navigation that is now widely disputed. Nearly a century later, another expedition to theremote top of the globe caused a stir when Russian submarines planted a three-foot tallti tanium flag on the sea bed miles beneath the pole, going outside the global bodies that

oversee the region to stake a claim to the unowned spot on the planet.

Now CNN has another interesting report on its breaking news blog: According to Danishpress, Denmark is preparing to make its own official request to the United Nations torecognize the North Pole as part ofthe Kingdom of Denmark. The basis of Denmark'sreported claim is that the pole is geologically connected to Greenland, the world's largestisland and a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

The news, which the Danish paper Information says is confirmed by the Danish ForeignMinister, comes at an intriguing moment: just days after a meeting ofthe Arctic Council inNuuk, Greenland's capital, which was notably attended by U.S. Secretary of State HillaryClinton, and also after WikiLeaks released a flurry of cables written between 2007 and 2010

that underscored Arctic nations' anxiety over who owns what at the roof ofthe world.

Though five nations - Denmark (via Greenland), the U.S., Russia, Norway and Canada-

have land that circles the North Pole, no one has ever formally made a claim it. (The Russianflag, evidently, didn't count.) In 2014, the UNbody that oversees the region is due to look atcompeting geographic claims about what part of the seabed is connected to what country, andperhaps start to map out who can claim legal ownership ofwhat in the Arctic.

With li tt le oil and gas resources believed to be beneath the Pole itself , as well as a publiclystated intention to support Greenland in its quest for autonomy, why Denmark is gunning forthis is still unclear. Certainly, foreign interest in natural resources in parts of the Arctic withproven resources, such as off the coast of Greenland, has grown since 2007. Greenland, whichhas long been trying to figure out a way to secure its autonomy from its colonizer but has li tt leindustry ofits own to make independence viable, is extremely keen on partnering withinternational energy companies to tap into its natural resource potential. The revenues itwould receive from a large find could help set the island free from the large Danish subsidiesit relies on.

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The handing out oflicenses for exploratory drilling off Greenland's coast in the past few yearshas raised many concerns about dril ling in the pristine Arctic, particularly in the wake oftheBP spill. But according to another leaked report from the Danish government, it appearsthose concerns are not shared by Denmark or its territory. According to an article publishedon Tuesday in the English language Copenhagen Post: "Another Danish strategy report ... thatwas leaked to [Danish news outlet] DRon Monday, stated that, in the future, Arctic policywould "be driven first and foremost by Greenlanders' rights to growth and well-being", notenvironmental concerns."

The Danish government has said that it supports Greenland's path towards independence.But I 've always been a bit skeptical that Copenhagen will be quite so supportive when an oilcompany strikes it sobig in drilling offshore that Nuuk can afford to govern itself . And on theoff chance the UN does grant the Danish Crown ownership of the North Pole, will Denmarkalso hand that over to Greenland when the day finally comes? I wonder.

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Caitlyn Antrim

First, and most important, is that the process ofidentifying outer limits to the coastal state claimsin the Arctic is following the rules established by the Convention as international law. The propertheme ofthe story is not about potential conflict; instead, it is about the success ofinternationallaw developed in a global conference in establishing an alternative to conflict in the determinationofclaims to the ocean floor.

Second, the Convention leaves the determination ofboundaries between adjacent states to beworked out among those states. Discussions are already underway among the three states thatmay claim ... show more

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