New Rules Needed to Protect Arctic - WWF

New and better rules are urgently needed to counter the current rush for Arctic territories and resources, said environmental agency WWF on Friday.

Without improved international cooperation between Arctic nations, one of the world's most fragile regions, which also plays a critical role in stabilising the planet's climate, could face irreparable damage, the conservation organisation added.

"We urgently need sound international co-operation between Arctic nations to guarantee that the region's development is sustainable," said Dr Neil Hamilton, Director of the WWF Arctic Programme. "The political and symbolic gestures of recent expeditions asserting territorial claims and rights to unrestricted exploitation lead to
nowhere and could revive conflicts that have affected the region in the past."

With the melting of Arctic sea ice, which allows the opening of new shipping routes and makes possible the exploration of potentially vast reserves of minerals, oil and gas, WWF believes that the international Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) - the UN body regulating these activities - is no longer adequate for the Arctic.

"We need a new approach, which includes thinking about a solid Arctic Treaty and a multilateral governance body," Dr Hamilton added. "This is the only way to ensure the implementation of sustainable development regimes and help the Arctic adapt to the severe impact of climate change and ultimately stabilise the world's climate."

WWF warns that the current race to find new sources of oil and gas in the Arctic will dramatically increase global warming and climate change.

"The world needs to massively reduce its use of oil, not to increase it", WWF said.

The Arctic is already warming much faster than the rest of the world. As a result, the sea ice thickness has been reduced by 40 per cent in the last 30 years. During the same time, the area lost two million-square-kilometres of ice cover - a size equivalent to France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK combined.

And climate experts, who consider a global average temperature rise of two degrees Celsius as dangerous, believe that the Arctic could face a six degrees Celsius temperature rise by 2050. WWF warned this would "dangerously" impact the rest of the world.