Russia has submitted an adjusted bid concerning the extension of the limits of the Arctic continental shelf to the Commission on the Borders of the Continental Shelf, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on August. 4.
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Russian Federation believes that it owns 1.2 million sq. kilometers (463,000 sq. miles) of the Arctic.
Denmark, Canada, the United States, and Norway have also expressed interest in the region with high oil and natural gas potential. Competition for Arctic resources has increased due to reducing polar ice opening up new chances for study.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, countries can claim an exclusive economic area up to 200 miles from their coastline or “as far as their land territory naturally extends from shore beneath the sea”, explains the Telegraph.
“Ample scientific data collected in years of Arctic research are used to back the Russian claim”, the ministry argued.
That bid was rejected in 2002 by a UN commission on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
In 2007, Russia claimed the Arctic seabed by using a submarine to plant a titanium Russian flag in the ocean floor near the North Pole, according to BBC.
The Arctic rush carries considerable climate risks, campaigners say. “Until we act collectively, this area might be dotted with oil wells and fishing fleets inside our lifetimes”. Millions of people are asking for a protected sanctuary in the uninhabited area around the North Pole where nature is left wild.
The statement said Russian Federation expects the U.N.to begin considering its claim at a fall meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
A Soviet-era military base on the New Siberian Islands has been restored and other outposts in the region have been beefed up.
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Earlier this year, the military conducted sweeping manoeuvres in the Arctic that involved 38,000 servicemen, more than 50 surface ships and submarines and 110 aircraft. Arctic nations have been jostling to claim more.
