Copenhagen - Averting a "wild race" for the North Pole is a key aim of an upcoming meeting on Arctic territorial claims, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller said Wednesday. Norway, US, Canada and Russia were invited to Ilulissat, western Greenland for two-day talks that open next Tuesday, co-hosted by Denmark and self-governing Greenland.
Global warming has contributed to rapid melting of the Arctic polar cap, allowing new potential shipping routes.
"Everyone has responsibility for reducing risks and solving problems caused by increased shipping," Moller told reporters, recalling the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and its severe environmental impact on southern Alaska.
The receding ice cap attributed to global warming in the Arctic region offers the potential for exploiting oil and other resources, but could also fuel possible territorial disputes.
In August 2007 Russian scientists anchored a Russian flag more than 4,000 metres deep on the bottom of the sea in a controversial move, while Canada and Denmark have a dispute over who has sovereignty over Hans Island that lies between Greenland and Ellesmere Island.
No decisions were due at the meeting, but Moller said that it was important to send "a political signal."
