Things are looking a bit tense in the Arctic this week. On Monday, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird announced that the country will attempt to extend its territorial claim in the Arctic all the way to the North Pole. This is somewhat beyond the initial claims based on Canada’s continental shelf.
Continental shelf claims are one of the quirkier aspects of international law. Generally speaking, countries have the right under the UN Law of the Sea treaty to their continental shelf, which for legal purposes is defined as 200 miles offshore.
Russia made its own claim on the North Pole in 2007 when a submarine planted a Russian flag on the sea bed 14,000 feet below the surface. Canada’s then-Foreign Minister Peter MacKay dismissed that claim at the time, saying, “This isn’t the 15th Century. You can’t go around the world and just plant flags and say ‘We’re claiming this territory.’ ”
The United States, Norway, and Denmark-which has jurisdiction over Greenland-have also staked claims to parts of the Arctic region, which thanks to global warming now has newly accessible oil and shipping lanes up for grabs. The Chinese government has suggested it wants in on the action as well.
Editorial, Pages 16 on 12/11/2013