Joining the Arctic queue

The overseeing body known as the Arctic Council holds a special meeting today. Singapore will know if it gets to become a permanent observer. Our writer finds out why an island almost on the Equator wants to join this Arctic club. The other story explains why cooperation has been the body's hallmark.
M. Nirmala Straits Times 15 May 13;

SINGAPORE'S application for permanent observer status on the Arctic Council has raised eyebrows.

"Sometimes even a small event gives you a mental whiplash," wrote The Economist, referring to Singapore's 2011 application.

Whether Singapore is in or out will be announced today at the Arctic Council's ministerial meeting in Sweden.

The council was set up in 1996 to govern the ice-cap region and the eight permanent member countries that ring the North Pole: the United States, Canada, Russia, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark.

Then there are six countries with permanent observer status, which allows them to attend and contribute to council discussions. They are Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. In the queue along with Singapore to join the latter group are China, India, Japan, South Korea, Italy and the European Union.

Even if Singapore does not get permanent observer status, it and the other applicants could be given ad hoc observer status. Here, it needs to seek approval to attend each council meeting.

Away from the glare of publicity, Singapore's Arctic policy has been steadily taking shape.

For the past few years, Singapore has been deepening its understanding of the Arctic and marketing its expertise in shipping, coastal management and maritime governance - all very relevant to the council's work.

It appointed veteran diplomat Kemal Siddique as its Special Envoy for Arctic Affairs.

Adopting a boots-on-the- ground strategy, he visited all eight permanent council member countries, as well as several Arctic indigenous communities, such as the Saami and the Inuit.

Singapore has clearly taken note of a comment by the Swedish Arctic Ambassador Gustaf Lind at one council meeting: "The Arctic is hot."

The Arctic now holds 30 per cent of the world's undiscovered gas and 13 per cent of oil. Home to one-fifth of the world's fisheries, it includes the Barents and Norwegian seas - areas rich in seafood.

New shipping route

WHY does Singapore want to join the Arctic Council?

As a permanent observer, Singapore will get to attend working group sessions, giving it an insight into the significant changes in the region that will have an impact on the country. For instance, Singapore is concerned about fast melting polar ice, which can erode the island-state's position as one of the world's busiest ports.

Scientists expect the Arctic Ocean to be relatively ice-free between 2020 and 2050. As the ice recedes, a new route via the North Pole region is appearing, cutting the time taken by ships in Europe to reach the East by half.

Last year, 46 ships sailed through this new route which has the potential to divert shipping that all this while has gone via the Suez Canal and Singapore.

But Singapore is not too flustered; while there could be a dip in its shipping business, it needs to adapt and find new opportunities. It did just that in 2008, when Keppel Singmarine pulled off a brilliant strategy by building Asia's first two ice breakers for a Russian company, Lukoil.

Named Toboy and Varandey, the vessels - designed to operate in freezing temperatures as low as minus 45 deg C - can cut through ice blocks over 1.7m thick or about the length of a bathtub.

Keppel is now working on the world's first Arctic ice-worthy and green jack-up floating oil rig and other drilling rigs.

Singapore is also developing the next generation of vessels, including Arctic life boats.

The Republic also has broad expertise in running major port facilities and can help develop new Northern port infrastructure.

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide is confident that the new route will not badly affect Singapore's shipping business.

For now, the Arctic route, he said, can be used only to ship goods, such as iron ore, that do not need urgent delivery. It is also passable to ships only during summer with the help of ice breakers.

"If you run a company based on stability, you may want to take a warm route in order to avoid any hiccups," he said.

Coastal management

THERE is another problem caused by the melting Arctic ice.

As a low-lying island, Singapore is vulnerable as rising sea levels can wipe out its existence.

To prepare for the rise in sea levels, Singapore has raised the minimum level required for coastal reclamation areas. Previously, building owners had to make sure that the height of the reclaimed level had to be 1.25m above the highest recorded tide levels.

This level has been now set higher, at an additional 1m.

Singapore's experience in coastal management will increase in value as experts say that half of the world's population, or 3.4 billion people, live in coastal areas. This figure is expected to balloon to six billion by 2025.

Maritime stakeholder

SINGAPORE also brings to the Arctic table its expertise in cleaning oil spills, important to the ecologically vulnerable Arctic region.

The island nation also has experience in getting international shipping groups to use the ocean routes in a responsible way.

For example, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore is investing up to $100 million to provide incentives to owners of Singapore-flagged vessels that can create energy efficient and environment-friendly ship designs.

Oceanic research - on topics such as doing oil explorations in the harsh Arctic climate - is being done at the Centre for Offshore Research and Engineering at the National University of Singapore and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

Birds and the bees

THE protection of flora and fauna is a big item on the Arctic Council's agenda.

The feather in Singapore's cap that could convince the council members to admit Singapore is the way the island has rolled out its welcome mat each year to Arctic birds, such as the Pacific Golden Plover and Sanderling.

Leaving their freezing Arctic homes in the winter months for the warmer climate in the South, these birds stop over at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and the Seletar dam areas. They rest and refuel on seafood before resuming their epic journey.

At one Arctic meeting, Mr Sam Tan, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and an avid bird watcher, raised the excitement levels of his audience as he regaled them with accounts of how Singapore respects and gives refuge to birds.

If Singapore gets a toehold in the council today, there will be good reason to pop the bubbly.

Hands across the melting ice
The overseeing body known as the Arctic Council holds a special meeting today. Singapore will know if it gets to become a permanent observer. Our writer finds out why an island almost on the Equator wants to join this Arctic club. The other story explains why cooperation has been the body's hallmark.

James F. Collins, Ross A. Virginia And Kenneth S. Yalowitz Straits Times 15 May 13;

WITH global warming rapidly melting Arctic sea ice and glaciers making valuable stores of energy and minerals more accessible, voices of doom are warning of inevitable competition and potential conflict - a new "Great Game" among the five Arctic coastal nations.

In fact, Arctic states from North America, Europe and Russia, working with indigenous peoples and a number of non-Arctic states, already have taken steps to ensure just the opposite: that the Arctic remains a zone of cooperation, peace, and stable, sustainable development.

The Arctic Council - the intergovernmental organisation for the eight Arctic states comprising Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States - has created a forum for cooperation and momentum towards a responsible approach to the region's issues.

Today, a ministerial meeting of the council in Sweden will face urgent issues dealing with the environment, shipping and governance.

In anticipation of this meeting, more than 40 leading Arctic scholars, government officials, industry leaders and representatives for indigenous peoples met in Washington in February under the auspices of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Dartmouth College, the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of the Arctic to examine issues facing the region - energy, health, shipping, security and governance - and to make recommendations for action to the Arctic Council.

Arctic energy and mineral riches eventually will be developed, but harsh weather conditions will persist and fluctuating world prices will make the timing of development uncertain.

The shale gas revolution is already delaying some Arctic energy projects. Arctic shipping, although increasing as seasonal sea ice declines, will remain largely regional, dedicated to the transport of Arctic energy and mineral resources and the supply of local populations and industry. Difficult sea ice conditions and the consequent unpredictability of shipping schedules will severely limit interest in developing trans-Arctic Ocean container shipping.

The Arctic states have addressed potentially divisive issues in an orderly manner, and the prospects for resolving issues in the region by force are at present slight. The most accessible Arctic oil and gas resources are located within state borders or the universally agreed-upon 200-nautical-mile (nm) Exclusive Economic Zone of the coastal states and thus not subject to dispute.

The Arctic coastal states are pursuing claims for territorial shelf extension beyond 200nm for exclusive access to additional oil and gas reserves, but they have agreed their differences will be settled under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and through diplomatic channels.

The Arctic Council is in a unique position to strengthen this trend. The United States can help greatly by ratifying the Law of the Sea Convention, giving more policy level attention to US interests in the Arctic and using the US chairmanship of the council, beginning in 2015, to build on the work the council has done.

A binding search-and-rescue accord was reached in 2011 by the Arctic Council. The upcoming ministerial meeting is an opportunity to strengthen the security and well-being of the region.

This can be accomplished by encouraging cooperation of the region's militaries and coast guards in emergency/disaster response, providing better situational awareness for Arctic Ocean shipping safety and prevention of illegal activities, and the establishment of a forum to share maritime information.

The ministerial meeting should also urge the International Maritime Organisation to adopt a mandatory polar code for ships operating in polar waters, and regulations for safe operations of cruise ships; establish an Arctic economic forum to promote public/private partnerships and help resolve issues such as environmental pollution; establish a clearing house for public and private data on oil spill preparedness, prevention and remediation; and provide more capacity for indigenous peoples and their organisations to research and develop a health care system consonant with their culture.

One key governance issue facing the ministerial council is the requests from several non-Arctic states and the European Union to become permanent Arctic Council observers. Bringing them in would open up council proceedings and underscore that many Arctic issues, such as environmental pollutants, are global ones.

At the same time, there would be little benefit to Arctic governance from making the council a formal international organisation; nor is there a perceived need for a comprehensive Arctic treaty.

Dangerous conflict in the region over valuable resources remains a remote possibility, but the council must take constructive steps to ensure that the Arctic continues to develop as a venue for cooperation among Russia and the Arctic states of Europe and North America.

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

James F. Collins is director of the Russia and Eurasia programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former US Ambassador to Russia. Ross A. Virginia is professor and director of the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth College. Kenneth S. Yalowitz is senior fellow at the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth and former US Ambassador to Belarus and Georgia.