As ice in the Arctic region continues to melt as a result of climate change, the U.S. is hoping to capitalize on the new opportunities for trade and transportation the Arctic could offer while simultaneously combating potential geopolitical threats posed by the melting ice.
Speaking in Finland this month to members of the Arctic Council, a group of eight nations whose territories border the Arctic region, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that new sea lanes would allow ships to reduce the time it takes to get between continents.
“Steady reductions in sea ice are opening new naval passageways and new opportunities for trade, potentially slashing the time it takes for ships to travel between Asia and the West by 20 days,” Pompeo told the group, which included foreign ministers from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden. “Arctic sea lanes could become the 21st century’s Suez and Panama canals.”
“We’re entering a new age of strategic engagement in the Arctic, complete with new threats to Arctic interests and its real estate,” Pompeo said.
[Related: US rebuffs China’s attempt to play a role in governing the Arctic]
Despite Pompeo’s acknowledgment that the sea ice in the Arctic is melting, Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini said disagreements about climate change were the reason that no joint resolution between the countries was able to be produced during the meeting. A short statement was issued instead, reaffirming the council’s “commitment to the well-being of the inhabitants of the Arctic, to sustainable development, and to the protection of the Arctic environment.”
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, told the Washington Examiner that he was pleased with Pompeo’s speech, noting that residents of America’s only Arctic state should be happy that the Trump administration is recognizing opportunities that exist in the region.
“At long last, we have an administration that understands the Arctic’s unique ecosystem, but also sees in the area huge opportunities for our country and for the people of the Arctic,” Sullivan said. “Secretary Pompeo said that this is ‘America’s moment to stand up as an Arctic nation and for the Arctic’s future.’ I couldn’t agree more.”
Alaska’s other senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, told the Washington Examiner that she also sees the opportunities that come with the thinning sea ice but warned that with the positive aspects of new routes come more destructive consequences of climate change.
[Also read: China’s Arctic ambitions threaten the West, Pompeo warns in Europe]
“Historically, the … Northwest Passage [waterways] have been virtually impassable because they were covered by thick, year-round sea ice, but those sea routes could be intermittently open in the relatively near future. These shortened routes will deliver materials to their destination more quickly and save money along the way. From a trade perspective, the changes we’re seeing in the Arctic are significant,” Murkowski said.
“But the same conditions that create new opportunities pose serious challenges to the people who live in the Arctic. Whether it is coastal erosion threatening infrastructure, changing subsistence cycles undermining food security, or increased vessel traffic straining local response capacities, the people of the Arctic are struggling to adapt,” she added.
Joseph Kane, an associate fellow at the Brookings Institution, mirrored some of Murkowski’s concerns about climate change, telling the Washington Examiner that he thinks Pompeo’s comments about the Arctic are concerning and lack regard for the broader issues that climate change brings.
“Secretary Pompeo’s stance has added more tension to an already divisive issue. A changing climate, in the Arctic and elsewhere, is leading to a wide variety of environmental, economic, and other impacts globally,” Kane warned.
“Many different communities, including individual residents and businesses, are bearing the brunt of these impacts, and it’s crucial that our infrastructure is ready to handle increased climate pressures over time,” Kane said. “Freight movement, and trade more generally, is just one dimension of this challenge, which must be viewed in a broader context. Focusing on trade and transportation in relative isolation overlooks the vast assortment of costs that our infrastructure networks face in years to come.”
A day before the meeting, Pompeo also warned about potential aggression from China and Russia in the Arctic as the area begins to open up further.
“The region has become an arena of global power and competition, and the eight Arctic states must adapt to this new future,” Pompeo emphasized.
“We’re entering a new age of strategic engagement in the Arctic, complete with new threats to the Arctic and its real estate and to all of our interests in that region,” Pompeo said. “The region has become an arena for power and for competition.”
Pompeo pointed out that China is grasping for influence in the Arctic, which “houses 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil, 30% of its undiscovered gas, and an abundance of uranium, rare earth minerals, gold, diamonds, and millions of square miles of untapped resources, fisheries galore.” He said he worries the region could become “a new South China Sea.”
Sullivan echoed Pompeo’s sentiments, calling the administration “clear-eyed about the strategic threats in the area coming from China and Russia.”
“Most importantly, the administration is putting words into action by working with Congress to fortify America’s security and diplomatic presence in the area,” Sullivan added.
