EU Parliament Passes ‘the North Pole’ Resolution

The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling for a protected area around the North Pole which could ban oil companies and industrial fishing fleets from the region.

The text echoes the demands of an international campaign which has attracted the support of over five million people including Sir Paul McCartney and US oceanographer Sylvia Earle.

The move represents a clear break from the current positions of ‘Arctic Council’ members such as Norway, Denmark, Canada and Russia who have resisted calls for permanent protection of the Arctic region. In contrast, Finland, another Arctic state, recently adopted the sanctuary proposal as official policy.

The European Parliament also stressed the need for a binding agreement on pollution prevention at the Arctic Council – an international forum criticised by environmentalists for its closeness to the oil industry. According to Greenpeace, previous voluntary agreements on oil spill readiness have lacked teeth.

The resolution is expected to push the Arctic more firmly onto the agenda of EU foreign ministers and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, who have so far been reluctant to speak out against the rapid industrialisation of the region by international oil companies including Shell, BP and Russia’s state owned energy giant Gazprom.

[mappress]
March 14, 2014