Eight Arctic countries are poised to sign a multilateral treaty to coordinate search and rescue operations in the region, according to a Canadian official.
The draft agreement will also divide the Arctic into specific search and rescue areas, with each nation legally responsible for its own territory, according to Icelandic officials.
The deal was drawn up by foreign ministers from Canada, the US, Russia, Denmark, Greenland, Finland, Sweden and Norway – the eight members of the Arctic Council.
“Officials of the eight Arctic Council concluded negotiations on an agreement on cooperation on search and rescue in the Arctic in Rejkyavik, Iceland on December 16,” Canadian foreign ministry official Laura Markle said.
The ministers will “consider” ratifying the treaty at the Arctic Council ministerial meeting in Nuuk, Greenland in May, Ms Markle noted.
“The agreement targets the changed reality in the Arctic where due to climate change, increasing transportation opportunities have emerged in recent years and are only to increase in the coming years,” Iceland’s foreign ministry said on the website Arctic Portal.
Arctic countries have intensified discussions on how to manage the economic opportunities and protect the fragile ecosystem in the frozen North, as the Arctic sea ice melts away and companies line up to drill for oil and gas.
Arctic expert and international law professor Micheal Byers praised the deal, saying it would help ensure that “lives are not lost because of a situation of disorganisation”.
“There are people who might see this as the Arctic countries trying to sew up the Arctic and keep China and the EU out, but there’s nothing in this treaty that seeks to extend jurisdiction,” Dr Byers, a professor at the University of British Columbia said.
“The signal to the rest of the world is not one of confrontation or challenge, but rather of reassurance that if you are on a airliner flying from Beijing to New York and you are forced to crash land somewhere in the Arctic, there is a pre-agreed mechanism for the different countries to respond, to pool their aircraft and their ships to coordinate to save lives,” Prof. Byers explained.
Prof. Byers, the author of Who Owns the Arctic? a book about sovereignty disputes in the north, also said the deal marked a turning point for relations between Russia and the US.