U.S. takes leadership of Arctic Council

Secretary of State John Kerry took the helm of the Arctic Council on Friday on behalf of the United States, vowing to protect the delicate northern environment newly exposed by melting polar ice to the developed world’s quest for energy and a swifter trade route from Europe to Asia.

Kerry promised to make the battle against climate change the first priority of the two-year U.S. stewardship of the council, which unites eight countries whose shores rim the Arctic Circle and who lay claim to shares of its oil, gas and shipping lanes.

Preventing catastrophic weather events and rising sea levels “is not a future challenge; this is happening right now,” Kerry told the gathering at Iqaluit on Canada’s Baffin Island.

“The numbers are alarming. The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on Earth,” Kerry said. “Temperatures are increasing at more than twice the rate of the global average, which means the resilience of Arctic communities and ecosystems and the ability of future generations to adapt and live and prosper in the Arctic is tragically, but actually, in jeopardy.”

Retreating Arctic sea ice brings opportunity as well as peril, Kerry noted, referring to the emerging summer shipping route across northern Russia that can cut a cargo ship’s sailing time from Europe to Asia by nearly two weeks.

“But it is imperative that the development we pursue is sensitive to the lifestyle and history that people want to hold on to, and also that it is sustainable,” he said.

The commitment to conservation expressed at the semiannual council gathering is expected to run up against mounting pressure from big business to exploit the natural riches beneath the Arctic seafloor, where the U.S. Geological Service estimates as much as 30 percent of the world’s untapped natural gas lies.

The Arctic Council was formed in 1996 to collectively manage the region emerging as North Pole ice melts, revealing new land masses, the Northern Sea passage and virgin undersea tracts ripe for exploration.

In the last four years, the council – Russia, Canada, the United States, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden – has crafted landmark agreements on coordinated search-and-rescue operations across the vast northern region as well as emergency response for containment and cleanup in the event of an oil spill.