1 Introduction
1. Home to 4 million people and a number of species
unique to region, encompassing a diverse range of habitats, the
Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of planet. As
a result of climate change, a number of 'tipping points' that
would hasten further global climate change could be approaching,
with serious ramifications for the UK's weather and climate (paragraphs
12 & 13). The Arctic Ocean ice-cap is retreating at a dramatic
rate, and within the near future might collapse completely during
the summer months, threatening the unique wildlife and ecosystems
that are found there. Most Arctic biodiversity is migratory and
shared with the rest of the world, particularly the UK.
2. The retreating ice-cap is enabling greater exploitation
of the Arctic's natural resources—fossil fuels, minerals,
and fisheries—and opening up new major global shipping routes.
As a maritime nation close to the Arctic, with well-developed
oil, finance and insurance sectors, British companies will have
a clear interest in these new opportunities. Given the challenging
Arctic conditions, there are concerns that such development could
result in significant environmental damage in a region already
feeling the effects of climate change more than the rest of the
planet. The fact that the Arctic is one of the least understood
places on Earth exacerbates the risks.
3. The 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
set out Principles on which all states would work together to
protect the environment and achieve sustainable development. Part
of our Committee's role entails ensuring that there is an ongoing
process to enshrine those Principles into future international
agreements, UK laws and government policies. To that end, we have
carried out a number of inquiries looking at the outcomes of the
June 2012 Rio+20 Earth Summit, which aimed to reaffirm political
commitment to the Rio Principles and past action plans and to
agree the actions needed to achieve sustainable development. This
is an important agenda and we must all work to 'take Rio Home'
and implement the future programme of work that was agreed. As
an iconic region where environmental and climatic changes will
affect all states and peoples, not just those in the Arctic, the
international community must work together to ensure that the
Rio Principles are at the core of future development in the Arctic.
4. Against this background, we decided to explore
the:
· impact of climate change on the Arctic
(Part 2);
· risks to ecosystems from increased development,
particularly oil and gas extraction, shipping and fisheries (Part
3); and
· governance arrangements for the Arctic,
including the role that the UK Government should be taking (Part
4).
5. We received over 30 written submissions and took
oral evidence from non-governmental organisations; academics;
oil companies; the International Chamber of Shipping, the Norwegian
and Swedish Ambassadors (Norway chaired the Arctic Council between
2006 and 2009, and Sweden is the current chair); the Met Office;
Natural Environment Research Council; Maritime and Coastguard
Agency; the Department for Transport, Department of Energy and
Climate Change and Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and Henry
Bellingham MP, the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which is the lead department
on the Arctic. We would like to thank all those who contributed
evidence.
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