Frederick Hauge, president of nongovernment organization Bellona, said the new border treaty between the two countries must not be used as “an opportunity to open new, vulnerable areas for oil exploration.”
The border treaty divided the marine-and-oil-rich, 175,000 square kilometer area in the Barents Sea and Arctic Ocean. Norway had been in dispute with the Soviet Union in 1970 and then Russia thereafter over the maritime area dividing the two countries.
Russian and Norwegian foreign ministers Sergey Lavrov and Jonas Gahr Store signed the border treaty Wednesday in Russia’s city of Murmansk.
But Bellona says the treaty hardly frees the environment from potential harm.
In fact, certain other claimant countries like the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland and Sweden are still invoking the same territorial rights.
These countries battle over privileges because the Arctic seabed is said to have a sizeable amount of oil and untouched natural gas resources.
Mr. Hauge said Norway must use the agreement to settle major environmental problems the country and Russia are facing.
“Norway gets with the area a heavy responsibility for the environment, and we must go ahead and demonstrate to Russia how important and sensitive nature should be managed,” he said.
Norway’s oil and energy department immediately began an environmental mapping of the Arctic region to tap oil and gas reserves right after the agreement was signed.
“The accident with the Deepwater Horizon showed how disastrously poorly the oil industry controls its operations. It is madness to let the oil industry into the Arctic,» Mr. Hauge said.
He said the oil industry’s record of accidents and leaks will endanger an already fragile ecosystem of the Arctic region.
“In addition, it is not particularly progressive to aim for petroleum production in the Arctic, if you are a politician who really wants to cut CO2 emissions,” he said.
