The carve up of the Arctic - a new Cold War?

I am going to a meeting tomorrow of the Green Party's international committee. Apart from issues concerning Europe, international motions going to the party conference - one of which I have proposed asking for support for the Global Greens Congress in Senegal next year - the other issue I have asked to be put on the agenda is the situation in the Arctic with drilling for oil etc and the real danger of a major resource war there.

Already we can see that NATO, the US, Russia and others are getting ready to carve out their interests in the region on the assumption that as the ice retreats a new El Dorado will open up for them in terms of minerals and fossil fuels. This is an appalling vista and made worse by the real prospect of war and conflict there. Recent report on a conference on the future of the Arctic and on some of the wikileaks on the issue are a real cause for concern.

Also today Kumi Naidoo, the Executive Director of Greenpeace is joining other brave activists to protest about oil drilling off Greenland. Kumi, already a veteran of the anti-apartheid movement, makes the very salient point that apart from the damage to nature, which could be enormous, that these developments will also impact hugely on the developing world and lead to massive damage and a rise in global sea levels.

This is going to be one of the issues of this century and we betteer wake up to its real dangers before it is too late. I intend to liaise with the Danish Green movement and others about this and with our sister party in Denmark. I am also hoping to organise a fringe on it at the party's autumn conference.