THE failure of the US Congress to ratify the UNCLOS treaty may be coming home to roost as America is being left out as other Arctic powers grab for Arctic riches.
Last week’s meeting in Greenland of the six Arctic littoral states agreed that establishment of Arctic claims should be governed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Unfortunately for the US, Congress has yet to ratify the document. US Senator Lisa Murkowski, said yesterday that the US risks being shut out as Canada and Russia stake their polar claims. “Canada is asserting its sovereignty in the region with a military presence in the Northwest Passage,” she told a MarAd conference on Arctic transport, adding that Russia is seeking to lay claim to upwards of 1.2M km² of energy- and mineral-rich tundra.
1 comment:
Agree 100%! Not only will the US be in a disadvantageous position regarding the Arctic, but it will be at a severe disadvantage in "shaping" the regime that will regulate the world’s oceans - as well as the resources in and under the oceans.
Here are a couple great resources on the topic:
http://www.gc.noaa.gov/documents/UNCLOS-Sen-Exec-Rpt-110-9.pdf
http://www.oceanlaw.org/downloads/references/senate/NegroponteTestimony070927.pdf
http://www.oceanlaw.org/
http://itssdjournalunclos-lost.blogspot.com/
http://www.clgd.org/index.php
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