Meeting in Greenland over a two-day summit, the five Arctic coastal states (Canada, US, Russia, Denmark and Norway) with territorial claims to the Arctic Ocean have agreed to allow international law to resolve disputes arising from seabed claims.
Holding an estimated one-quarter of the world’s undiscovered hydrocarbons, control over lucrative seabed rights of the Arctic Ocean have heated up over the past year due in part to the record-setting lose of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, as well as, political tension stemming from Russia planting a flag on the seabed at the North Pole.
The Greenland Summit was intended to help diffuse some of the current Arctic political conflict, which it seems to have accomplished. Agreed by the representative delegates is the necessity to develop a joint plan to oversee mineral and hydrocarbon exploration within the Arctic Ocean, maritime security (including search and rescue), transportation and environmental regulations (the Northwest Passage will require such measures).
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Arctic G5 vows to freeze out international legal regime – Ottawa Citizen