Ottawa: Arctic Council to Meet Wednesday
B. McPherson The eight nation Arctic Council will reconvene on May 15 th to discuss security, sustainability, environmental protection and development. The nations which have coast lines on the Arctic Ocean formed the Council in 1998 in the face of the warming Arctic and threats and opportunities that an ice-free ocean would present. In addition to the eight nations with coastlines on the Arctic – Canada, USA, Russia, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark(Greenland) – there are six nonvoting members who represent indigenous people and their interests. Observer status has been granted to eight nations. 14 other nations have applied to sit as nonvoting observers at this conference. Some of the nations applying for status are puzzling at first glance, but the expected natural resources that lie under the ice have some already rumbling that they deserve a share of those riches – natural gas and oil. This year China, Japan, S.Korea, India, Italy, Singapore and the EU have all...