March 2014: A resolution to create a protected area
around the North Pole has been passed by the European Government.
This could see oil companies and industrial fishing fleets banned from the region,
and follows an international campaign which has attracted the support of
over five million people including Sir Paul McCartney and US oceanographer, Sylvia Earle.
Greenpeace activist and Arctic 30 member Sini Saarela from Finland said:
“What happens in the Arctic matters to us all. I’m delighted by this news because it will spark
a new conversation that we need to have together. By calling for a sanctuary around the North Pole,
MEPs have responded to the millions of people who want to protect the Arctic for future generations.
“This is a direct challenge to the small group of countries who are rushing to open up the fragile Arctic
for oil drilling and industrial fishing. The status quo is starting to crack, and this now demands
a real response from those who see the melting Arctic simply as a new source of profit.”
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.
