Russia to boost Arctic presence

• President Vladimir Putin has ordered the military to step up its presence in the Arctic after Canada signalled it planned to claim the North Pole and surrounding waters.
• The tough and rapid response to Canada’s announcement reflected Russia’s desire to protect its oil and natural gas interests in the pristine but energy-rich region amid competing claims there by countries that also include Norway and Denmark.
• Canada had earlier filed a claim with the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf concerning the outer limits of its continental shelf in the Atlantic Ocean. The claim also included Canada’s stake on the North Pole.
• Russia has an overlapping claim to both the North Pole and swathes of the Arctic that the U.S. Geological Survey thinks could hold 13 % of the world’s undiscovered oil and up to 30% of its hidden natural gas reserves.
• In 2007, a government-sponsored diving team in had planted a Russian flag under the North Pole, and the Russia has been contemplating to deploy a large military presence in the region from a long time.

More about Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS): It’s Purpose, functions

Purpose:

The purpose of the CLCS is to facilitate the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention) in respect of the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M) from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

Under the Convention, the coastal State shall establish the outer limits of its continental shelf where it extends beyond 200 M on the basis of the recommendation of the Commission. The Commission shall make recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of those limits;

its recommendations and actions shall not prejudice matters relating to the delimitation of boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts.

Functions of the Commission:

(a) To consider the data and other material submitted by coastal States concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf in areas where those limits extend beyond 200 nautical miles, and to make recommendations in accordance with article 76 and the statement of Understanding adopted on 29 August 1980 by the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea;

(b) To provide scientific and technical advice, if requested by the coastal State concerned during preparation of such data. 

In accordance with article 76(8), the Commission shall make recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of the outer limits of their continental shelf. The limits of the shelf established by a coastal State on the basis of these recommendations shall be final and binding.