Five countries agree to talk about the Arctic

Diplomats from five of the nations bordering the Arctic Ocean have agreed to meet over how to share the top of the globe.

Ironically, global warming - and the melting of the ice pack that normally covers the Arctic Ocean - is giving these nations the chance for vast new economic possibilities. Ice-free seas could open up new, quicker shipping routes from Europe to Asia, and give access to reserves of oil and natural gas believed to exist under the Arctic ice.

As the ice recedes, countries have been quick to make their claims. Canada announced plans for new ships and a naval base in the far north of the country to patrol the Arctic ocean, while last summer Russia dramatically planed a small Russian flag on the sea floor at the North Pole - land they claim is linked to the Russian mainland.

While diplomats have agreed to talk about how these resources will be used, the New York Times article linked above gives the impression that this is the end of the story and that everyone will be able to freely use the Arctic. What the diplomats agreed to was to use the Convention on the Law of the Sea (CLOS), which is the main international treaty regarding the use of the world's oceans, as the guide to resolving future disputes. Under CLOS though one nation can be given the exclusive rights to the use of huge areas of the sea. For example, both Russia and Denmark plan to present claims under CLOS that the North Pole is physically linked to their territory via a ridge running under the ocean. If either claim is proven true, that country can be given the exclusive rights to access the sea flood and all the mineral wealth it contains.

The United States, meanwhile, has never ratified the CLOS treaty. US policy has long been to follow the rulings of CLOS, but (officially at least) the US does not have to be part of any negotiations since we have never ratified the treaty.