“The dangers of global warming cannot be ignored,” said Ban Ki-moon on March 27, during a 3-day visit to Greenland to see first-hand how the Arctic is being affected by rising temperatures and the impact of climate change. The UN Secretary General will convene a climate summit September 23 in New York, a day before the UN General Assembly.
Climate change and the warming of the Polar North has created melting in much of the Arctic, potentially allowing transportation and access to and from areas that 10 years ago were unthinkable.
Although in the past, the Arctic represented a remote wilderness surrounded by an impassible body of frozen sea, the Arctic is rich in natural resources, including, according to estimates, 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered gas and 13 percent of oil.
As new and advanced technology has made the Arctic more accessible — shipping, energy and mining companies, and other businesses and nations of the world are looking at the area with a renewed interest for development, investment, trade, mining, etc.
The countries in the region have a history of cooperation, allowing international law to settle issues and boundary disputes peacefully. With the new opportunities opening in the Arctic region, Anchorage and Reykjavik may someday become major shipping centers and financial capitals, similar to Singapore and Dubai, thanks to their geographic location. If developed responsibly, as a “final frontier of development,” the U.S. stands to gain enormously from this region of the world. This needs to be seen as an economic and foreign policy priority, to establish a shared vision of sustainable development.
The Arctic is open for business. The United Nations, the Arctic's bordering countries and the international community, together with major businesses and investors have every reason to get in on the ground floor, mindful of the necessity to protect the environment, sustainable stability in the region and work the complexity of interests in a peaceful manner. Nations must find a way to balance the needs of the environment, economic growth, national security concerns, and the welfare of humanity at large.
Experts from the local Washington community are invited to discuss the opportunities and challenges from commercial, trade, security points of view.