Cheongshim International Academy Model United Nations 2013
Commission
Commission: General Assembly
Agendum: Solving the Arctic Resource Crisis
Student Officer: Keun Young Jung
Introduction
As continuous tensions are shown between countries regarding the ownership of natural resources in
certain regions, the Arctic has become the center of interest for many nations. 13% of the world’s
undiscovered oil as well as the world’s 30% of untapped natural gas are known to be located
underneath the thick layers of the Arctic’s ice. These natural resources are worth trillion dollars of
potential profit. Countries are currently building troops and camps in the Arctic territory building the
tension and preparing for an outbreak of war.
As countries all over the world are seeking for vast business opportunities, ecologists and biologists
warns the devastating outcome of what could happen while extracting or even harming these
resources. The process of extraction may harm natural habitats, and the heat from the mechanisms
used could melt the ice of the Arctic leading the situation to an ecological catastrophe. Climate change
could alter the equilibrium of the water levels as a result of the exploitation of readily accessible
natural resources. In the General Assembly council we will work on finding a resolution between
nations and creating an efficient and satisfying solution for all countries involved for this international
problem at hand today.
Definition of Key Terms
Natural Resources
Non renewable fuel sources are the major natural resources. It includes, fossil fuels, oil, natural gas,
water. These resources are in pure form without any disturbance from mankind. The natural resource
in the Arctic are oil and natural gas all known to be secreted underwater of the Arctic.
Extraction
The process of extracting, taking, exploiting the resources from its origin. The exploitation process
could be very harming to the environment, as it requires a lot of mechanism that produces heat and
by-products such as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes global warming. The methods of
extraction could be from physical, chemical, or manual ways.
Climate Change
The change of the average weather patterns over long term periods of time. These changes in weather
are caused by certain greenhouse gases that encourages global warming.
Border
The line that divides the countries inside the continents. The bordering countries of the Arctic are the
followings: Canada, United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway. The Subarctic regions are: Finland,
Sweden, and Iceland.
Global Warming
It refers to the rise of average temperature of the planet Earth. It is primarily caused by greenhouse
gases, burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and etc. Global warming rises the sea temperature causing
the Arctic ice to melt which is a big environmental problem.
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Ratify
To show consent to a certain formal sanction or agreement. It is normally approving policies and
confirming an individuals stance in a certain subject. In the this report, ratification is used to show the
countries agreement in joining the Arctic Council and the UNCLOS convention.
Northwest Passage
A passage located in the northwest region of the Arctic sea. It is known to be very sufficient as a trade
route between worldwide nations crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. There were several
disputes between nations such as Canada and US over the sovereignty of the passage and it is yet to
be solved.
Background Information
The arctic ocean and the region of the north pole are not owned by any countries by international law.
Furthermore, since it is a region that contains resources with massive potential profit, even countries
that are not bordering or even remotely close to the Arctic are showing interests in that region.
Resources beneath the ice are attracting nations to be politically involved. Countries are sending
military forces over the Arctic to show and mark their territorial property and even though the
situation never went out of hand, these threats have been endangering the international peace as it is
cautioning the other nations to send in their own troops as well.
The Arctic is one of the regions most vulnerable to the effects in climate change due to global
warming. As the average temperature is rising, the ice in the Arctic is melting resulting in the rise of
water levels. Arctic temperature has risen more than twice as fast as the global average over the past
half century, showing the severity of the problem. Another reason for the ice to melt so quickly is
because of the mechanics used to pump out oil and gas underneath the waterbed, as these machines
radiates heat, the heat is then passed on to the ice causing it to melt in a much more faster rate.
Research institutes estimate that the sea ice loss will reach its maximum and eventually lead to
complete loss of ice by the year of 2040 to 2100.
As this issue is now a global problem, another problem has caught the attention of many people. In
the Arctic there are indigenous indians living on the ice. These indians (Eskimos) have been
protecting their tradition and their way of living since 2500BC. Since there is always a chance of war
for the resources in the Arctic, the eskimos are in the state of utmost tension. Some organizations have
risen to protect these indians and ensure them their rights. However, feasible policies are not being
produced and ratified by national governments.
Major Countries and Organizations Involved
Arctic Council
An organization made to promote cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic
surrounding countries. These countries include, Canada, Denmark(Greenland, Faroe Islands) Finland,
Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. The council works to protect the Arctic’s
environmental status and deals with the sustainable development of the land.
Russia
One of the 5 countries that are bordering the Arctic claiming to the deposits of the resources
underwater. Russia has been the pioneer in the research and development of Arctic’s fuel resources
and have inofficially claimed Arctic as part of the Russian territory in 2007 by placing its flag on the
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seabed. Russian officials have expressed their hopes that there will never be a war for resources but is
also one of the nations showing aggression towards the situation.
United States of America
Another country that borders the Arctic but with an unsolved dispute with Canada regarding the
setting of boundaries in the beaufort sea (an area of interest to oil drillers and companies). The US
also refused to sign an international treaty which would have decided the ownership of the territorial
natural resources and showed their rigid stance claiming the ownership of the fuels.
Norway
Even though Norway is also one of the bordering countries, the nation showed responsibility for
establishing fishing rights and administering policies that safe guards the environment of the Arctic.
Now, the Norwegian government has started to develop their own military interests.
Canada
Canada has made it very clear that they expressed how the arctic belongs to their territory and their
property. Canada is very skeptical how the countries are planting flags (Russian Federation) and
claiming the Arctic to their territory. Canada also claims the Northwest passage routes to be
considered Canada's internal waters while US and other nations claim that the passage are an
international strait.
Denmark
The nation is bordering the Arctic and has yet to resolve a dispute with Canada over the ownership of
Hans Island. Denmark is also particularly interested in the north passage located across the Arctic
which would enhance better communication and trade globally.
UNCLOS(The United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea)
An organization which gives bordering nation a ten year time period in which these nations could
register a claim to their portion of territory on the continental shelf. If the claim passes through and is
declared valid, each country would have the exclusive rights to own the natural resources in that area.
International Maritime Organization(IMO)
The organization was established to maintain and regulate the peaceful shipping in waters. This
organization was working negotiating on the shipping codes and regulations on the Arctic.
Iceland, Sweden, Finland
The subarctic nations that have showed interests in the exploitation of the natural resources as well as
the exploration of more resources to uncover.
Timeline of Events
DateDescription of Event
1925 Canada first extend its boundaries upon the sector principle
20 September 1996 Establishment of the Arctic Council
1996 Norway ratified the convention UNCLOS
1997 Russia ratified the convention UNCLOS
2003 Canada ratified the convention UNCLOS
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2004 Denmark ratified the convention UNCLOS
12 May 2011 Ministerial Meeting in Nuuk, signed the Search and Rescue Agreement
Relevant UN Treaties, Resolutions and Events
Convention for the protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (22,Sept,1992)
It was signed and ratified by all contracting parties and focuses on enforcing high measures on marine
biodiversity.
Arctic Cooperation Agreement 1988
It is an agreement between US and canada regarding the ownership and usage of the Northwest
passage. However, the dispute was not solved between the two nations. Canada claimed the northwest
passage part of the canadian waters where America insisted that the passage should be considered
international and claimed free usage of the passage. The northwest passage is crucial as it is located
through the Arctic ocean and is used for trade routes around the world.
Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement (May 2011)
It was the arctic councils first binding document and it states whenever there is an event of a plane
crash, ship sinking, oil spill, human disappearance, and other disastrous events, the nations would coordinate with each other and help the nation in crisis. This was a very meaningful agreement as this
was the first agreement the arctic council co-operated.
Arctic Code of voluntary Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice-Covered Waters (adopted 2002)
The guidelines providing the standards of uniform safely, pollution, and security for ships.
Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission
Agreement between the two countries to control Barents Sea fishing.
Previous Attempts to Solve the Issue
Previously there have been several meetings and conferences regarding the topic at hand. However,
the only binding agreement is the Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement (May 2011) which only
promised the co-operation of the nations when there were disastrous events. Not many of these
meetings have solved the ownership of the natural resources. The UNCLOS did come up with a
solution as it gave exclusive rights to certain nations regarding the ownership of the resources but US
have not been ratified in the convention yet and there are difficulties in registering and passing the
claim to make it valid.
Possible Solutions
As this is an international conflict with many nations involved, the more it should be handled with
care. This event does not only cover the international disputes but also the environmental harms it
could bring to the Arctic land. The delegates should take consider the many positions and perspective
the nations have.
One of the solutions could be just leaving the Arctic land without the countries claiming sovereignty.
With no nations harming the Arctic, there wouldn't be any problems regarding the melting of ice and
depletion of the resources. This solution could also spare the indigenous indians living in the Arctic
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land who have been protecting their traditions and way of living. The problem with this solution is
that it is not feasible enough to happen since the countries bordering the countries are protecting their
rigid stance in this situation and also because the nations are aware of the massive profit the nations
could win by owning the Arctics land.
Another solution the delegates should take consider is to collaborate on working on a technique
focusing on extracting the resources without harming the environment. Also, the countries could
distribute the natural resources equally among themselves after the exploitation process. The problem
with this solution would be that it would be unfair for certain nations to receive the natural resources.
It would be very biased for the countries that are surrounding the Arctic to have privilege over the
resources when the Arctic shouldn't be owned by any nation according to the international law.
Bibliography
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2013.
"Territorial Claims in the Arctic." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Jan. 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2013.
"Resource Extraction - Arctic Climate Change,Economy and Society." Resource Extraction. N.p., n.d.
Web. 31 Jan. 2013.
"UNCLOS - Table of Contents." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2013.