The European Union will seek a ban on tapping new oil and gas deposits in the Arctic to protect a region severely affected by climate change, according to a proposal for the bloc’s new Arctic strategy.
The European Commission proposal reflects the EU’s efforts to boost its role on the global stage, though it has limited influence in the Arctic. It is not a member of the Arctic Council, the regional co-ordinating body, though three of its member states – Denmark, Finland and Sweden – are.
The Arctic is one of the regions most affected by climate change. It has warmed three times as fast as the planet during the last 50 years, causing the ice covering land and sea to melt, sea levels to rise and permafrost to thaw.
The EU also aims under its new strategy to strengthen research into the effects of thawing permafrost that may put oil fields at risk and threaten to release greenhouse gases as well as dangerous germs locked in the frozen ground.
Potential mitigation measures could include the development of methods for local cooling and stabilisation and the introduction of tougher building standards, the commission said.
The Arctic Council comprises Canada, Iceland, Norway, Russia and the United States as well as the three EU states, along with six Indigenous organisations, and it acts as a forum for co-operation.
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