Denmark claims potentially energy-rich Arctic waters

Interest in the Arctic is intensifying as global warming shrinks the polar ice, opening up possible resource development. That’s why Denmark plans to request formal recognition for an extended area of continental shelf.

Deutsche Welle, 15 Dec 2014

Denmark was set to lay claim to energy-rich but contested territory around the North Pole on Monday by submitting data to the UN which it says demonstrates the area is an extension of its continental shelf.

The Danish government said it would tell the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) that data collected since 2002 supports its claim to ownership over an area of about 895,000 square kilometers (346,000 square miles) beyond the current nautical borders of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.

"The objective of this huge project is to define the outer limits of our continental shelf and thereby ultimately of the Kingdom of Denmark," Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said in a statement.

Potential overlap with Canada, Russia and the US

The melting of the ice cap offers
shorter shipping routes

Claims on a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from a country's borders must be supported by scientific and technical data. However, the remote region is hotly disputed by other countries.

Between 2007 and 2012, Danish scientists, with colleagues from Canada, Sweden and Russia, surveyed a 2,000 kilometer long (1,240 miles) underwater mountain range that runs north of Siberia. They concluded that the ridge is geologically attached to Greenland, a huge, sparsely populated island that is a semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Norway already lays claim to an area overlapping the one outlined in the Danish submission to the UN, and there is "potential overlap with Canada, the Russian Federation and the US," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Moscow has increased its military presence in the pristine but energy-rich Arctic region, while Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has made asserting sovereignty over an expansive Arctic archipelago and surrounding waters a key policy. In August 2007, Russia placed its flag on the seabed under the North Pole.

Part of North America, but also a part of Europe

Environmental activists concered over
the race to exploit gas and oil

Greenland geographically forms part of North America rather than Europe and is largely self-governed, but it remains part of former colonial master Denmark, which controls its foreign affairs and defense policy.

Environmental activist groups, including Greenpeace, expressed concern over an emerging race to exploit potential untapped natural gas and oil reserves in the Arctic as the burning of fossil fuel drives global warming.

According to a study by the US Geological Survey from 2008, the Arctic could hold 13 percent of the oil and 30 percent of the natural gas which is yet to be discovered. The melting of the ice cap also offers shorter shipping routes between the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, which has attracted the interest of countries far from the Arctic region, including China.

jil/lw, ksb (AP, AFP, dpa)

Putin says Greenpeace had 'noble' motives as more crew freed

Google – AFP, 21 November 2013

A photo issued by Greenpeace on November 21, 2013 shows "Arctic 30"

 activist Gizem Akhan (R) from Turkey, in court in Saint Petersburg, Russia

(Greenpeace International/AFP, Vladimir Baryshev)

Saint Petersburg — Russia on Thursday released six Greenpeace activists on bail, bringing to seven the number freed from jail as President Vladimir Putin said the group had noble motives for their Arctic protest.

Photographer Denis Sinyakov, Greenpeace press secretary Andrei Allakhverdov, the ship's doctor Yekaterina Zaspa, David John Haussman from New Zealand, France's Francesco Pisanu and Italian Cristian D'Alessandro all left detention after being granted bail by Saint Petersburg courts, the group said.

Greenpeace International activist Andrey

 Allakhverdov (C), one of the "Arctic 30",

 is released on bail from a detention centre

 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on

November 21, 2013 (AFP, Olga Maltseva)

On Thursday, courts also granted bail to Jon Beauchamp of New Zealand, British crewmembers Frank Hewetson and Iain Rogers, Ukrainian cook Ruslan Yakushev, Canadian bosun Alexandre Paul and Turkish activist Gizem Akhan, Greenpeace said. They have not yet been released.

Three are still awaiting court decisions. One activist from Australia has been refused bail.

Putin said he believed the Greenpeace activists were acting with good intentions, but that they were wrong to climb up the oil platform and ram boats of coastguards.

"Are they doing something noble? Yes, they are. Did they act rightly when they climbed the platform? No, it was not right," he said in televised comments at a meeting with writers.

"Some climbed onto the platform, while others attacked our coastguards, practically storming them with their boats," Putin said.

Putin quoted a catch phrase from a 1960s-era Soviet comedy film that refers to physical punishment: "Fedya, that's not our method."

After treating the crewmembers harshly on their arrest, the Russian authorities have gradually climbed down, reducing their charge from piracy to hooliganism and now sanctioning their release.

Russian photographer Denis Sinyakov, one

of the "Arctic 30," is released on bail from

a detention centre in Saint Petersburg, on

November 21, 2013 (AFP, Olga Maltseva)

But the activists still face a possible jail sentence of up to seven years.

'An act of protest is not hooliganism'

Sinyakov's detention over the September protest at a state-owned oil rig was particularly controversial because he is a well-known press photographer who was working for Greenpeace as a freelancer.

The photographer, who has grown a beard in prison, raised a fist in triumph after stepping out of the notorious Kresty prison.

"An action of protest is not hooliganism," Sinyakov told TV Rain.

"My main task is to prove my innocence.I will be trying to achieve that."

He said that the conditions in the Murmansk prison where he was held until this month were much worse than in Saint Petersburg, but "they were bearable."

"The psychological situation itself is harder," he said.

On Wednesday evening, the first Greenpeace activist, Brazilian Anna Paula Maciel, walked out of her Saint Petersburg prison, smiling and holding a sign saying "Save the Arctic."

A photo released by Greenpeace shows the group's Arctic Sunrise ship docked

 in the port of Murmansk, Russia, on November 7, 2013 (GREENPEACE/AFP/File,

Dmitri Sharomov)

"Ana Paula's passport has now been given back to her and she has been given a special registration card stating that she legally arrived in the Russian Federation," Greenpeace said in a statement sent to AFP, adding that all the freed activists were staying in Saint Petersburg.

"There is no clarity on when the Arctic 30 will be able to return home."

Sinyakov told TV Rain that the investigators were still holding his international passport.

The jailing of the 30 prompted calls for their release from politicians including British Prime Minister David Cameron as well as stars such as Madonna and Paul McCartney.

This week, two courts in Saint Petersburg have ruled to release 26 crewmembers on condition that they pay bail of 2 million rubles ($60,750).

Brazilian Greenpeace International activist

 Ana Paula Maciel, one of the "Arctic 30," is

 released on bail from a detention centre in 

Saint Petersburg, Russia, on November 20,

2013 (AFP, Olga Maltseva)

But a court extended the detention of one crewmember of Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship, 59-year-old Australian radio operator Colin Russell, until February 24.

Australia's ambassador to Russia, Paul Myler, wrote on Twitter that he visited Russell Thursday and the activist was "in good spirits and confident his appeal will be successful."

Myler said Russian officials had suggested to him that the different decision in Russell's case could simply have been due to the fact that he was the first activist in court.

"General consensus: the first pancake never works out," Myler wrote, a Russian proverb meaning that the first attempt at something is usually unsuccessful.

Those granted bail include the two activists who actually scaled the oil rig during the September 18 protest in the Barents Sea.

Greenpeace said Thursday that a court in Murmansk rejected the group's appeal against the confiscation of their ship.

Related Articles:

UN tribunal sides with Arctic Sunrise activists - New

Dutch take Russia to maritime court over Greenpeace ship

A protester holds a placard during a demonstration against the

detention of Greenpeace activists in Russia, outside the Russian

embassy in central London, on October 5, 2013 (AFP/File, Carl Court)

Putin: Greenpeace activists 'not pirates,' but did break law

Deutsche Welle, 25 Sep 2013

Russian President Putin has said the Greenpeace activists arrested protesting Arctic oil exploration were "not pirates." However he's defended their detention, saying they broke the law when scaling a drilling platform.

"I do not know in detail what happened, but it is quite clear that they are not pirates," Vladimir Putin told an international Arctic forum Wednesday in the Siberian city of Salekhard.

It was his first comment since 30 members of Greenpeace and its icebreaking ship were seized by Russian authorities last Thursday when activists tried to board an oil platform operated by Russian state oil concern Gazprom in the Pechora Sea.

Law 'violated'

Putin said it was "completely obvious these people violated the norms of international law" by going "dangerously close" to the Prirazlomnaya oil rig.

The international executive director of Greenpeace, Kumi Naidoo, welcomed the Russian president's "recognition" that the activists were not pirates "and acted purely out of concern for the Arctic environment."

Greenpeace had earlier called the detention of their members as "completely incomprehensible."

However, Putin defended law enforcement's handling of the situation, saying they could not have known whether the activists were terrorists or environmentalists.

"Our border guards did not know who was storming the platform under the guise of Greenpeace," he said.

Russian authorities had said the "most active" members of the group could be charged with piracy, but Putin's comments seemed to indicate otherwise. If convicted of piracy, they could face 10-15 years in prison. Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said Wednesday the piracy charge could be changed once the investigation is completed.

Russian authorities had originally accused the activists, who come from 19 different countries including Russia, of terrorism.

Climate change concerns

In last week's protest, two activists tried to scale the platform but eventually slipped into the freezing water and were recovered by the Russian coast guard. Agents from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) then seized the Arctic Sunrise. A Russian tug towed the ship and its detained crew into Mumarsk harbor on Tuesday.

Rising average temperatures in the Arctic attributed to climate change and opening up of sea lanes have prompted energy producers to seek access to oil and gas reserves.

Greenpeace argues that oil spills and lack of precautions pose severe dangers to icy regions that are home to polar bears, walruses and rare seabirds.

dr,ipj/mz (AP, dpa, AFP)

China, Iceland sign strategic free trade agreement

Deutsche Welle, 15 April 2013

China and Iceland have signed a free trade agreement. While Reykjavik hoped the deal would help boost its battered economy, Beijing's interest was primarily in enhancing its influence in the Arctic.

The two nations said the Chinese-Iceland free trade pact would result in the lowering of tariffs on a wide range of goods and was expected to increase seafood and other exports from the remote Nordic state to the world's second-largest economy.

The deal was inked during a five day visit to China by Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, highlighting Reykjavik's endeavors to diversify an economy that was hard hit by the financial crisis in 2008.

"It also signals the deepening of our relationship, which has been lifted to a new height," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in a statement.

Strategic move

Analysts pointed to Iceland's unique importance to China as Beijing has been attempting to gain a foothold in the Arctic, where melting ice is opening passages for shipping and could create a boom in the extraction of natural resources such as oil, gas, diamonds, gold and iron.

Chinais seeking permanent observer status in the Arctic Council, an eight-nation body deciding on policies in the region. Beijing recently completed what was by far the largest embassy complex in the Icelandic capital, reportedly capable of accommodating a staff of 500.

Trade between China and Iceland jumped 21.1 percent last year to $180 million (137.6 million euros). Iceland exports mostly fish and imports Chinese products from ships to shoes.

hg/slk (AP, AFP)

Chinese premier starts Europe tour in Iceland

Deutsche Welle, 22 April 2012

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has been visiting Iceland on the first stop of a four-nation European tour. He was set to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany on Sunday.

The Chinese premier's visit to Iceland, ahead of visits to Germany, Poland and Sweden, was largely focused on energy issues and the Arctic region.

Wen held talks with Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson on Saturday, thanking his host for backing Beijing's request for permanent observer status on the Arctic Council.

Talks with Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir on Friday had resulted in agreements to cooperate on energy and science projects in the region.

Currently, China only has simple observer status on the eight-nation inter-governmental forum, comprising Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the United States.

Geothermal advances

As a trained geologist, Wen also toured the Thingvellir national park, home to popular tourist attractions the Gullfoss falls and the Geysir geyser.

While visiting a geothermal plant, the premier voiced "strong support" for efforts to tap geothermal energy back home in China.

A deal already exists between Iceland's Orka Energy company and the Chinese firm Sinopec, to develop geothermal energy in China.

Chinese interest in Iceland came to light when Chinese property magnate Huang Nubo tried to buy a large portion of land in the north of the country.

Suspicion was voiced that the purchase might help China win a foothold in the region and the deal was eventually blocked by the Icelandic government.

On Sunday, Wen was set to attend the world's biggest trade fair, the Hanover Messe, with Chancellor Angela Merkel. China is Germany's official partner at this year's four-day fair to showcase industrial technology.

rc/av (AFP, Reuters)

Related Article:

IMF says targeted debt reduction policies can work