Devnet Japan Adwisor – Takamasa Ishizuka
The Arctic is said to be the fastest warming region in the world, four times faster than other countries/regions. It can be said that we are on the highway to “Global Catastrophe,” not “Climate Breakdown.” (Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations)
The ice in the Arctic Ocean, which is supposed to be a cooling system for the entire planet, is gradually melting, causing drastic changes in the ecosystem and human life. It is understood that the melting of the ice in the Arctic Ocean is one of the major causes of heat waves, heavy rain and snow, and forest fires that are occurring in many parts of the world.
The Paris Agreement, an international framework to tackle the global warming, was signed, imposing an international agreement and obligation to limit the increase in global average temperatures to within 1.5°C above Pre-industrial levels. But in 2015, the global average temperature for 2023 was +1.48°C, close to the limit of the Paris Agreement, according to the investigation by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) of the European Union.
Simon Still, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said, “We only have two years left to save the planet! We really need to peak out the greenhouse gas emissions by 2025!” he has been saying loud and clear.
Christiana Figueres, former Executive of the UNFCCC until 2016, stated in a strong sense of urgency that “The actions taken by the 198 member states of the UN by 2030 will determine the future of mankind and the planet. After that, it will be too late!” He is expressing since it is obvious that the global warming will continue.
Despite this strong sense of crisis, the reality of the Arctic Ocean is now a “sea of confrontation” where the interests of intersecting strong powers are intertwined. In addition to the confrontation between Russia and NATO (32 Western European nations including the US), China has entered into the conflict with the aim of constructing the “Silk Road on Ice,” while aiming to become a “Strong Polar Power” in the form of supporting Russia on the side. In other words, the region will become the site of competition among major powers.
The North Sea is the base of Russia’s Northern Fleet, the core of its nuclear deterrence strategy, and is also the route by which the Northern Fleet exits to the Atlantic Ocean. If the ice in the North Sea melts and the difficulty of breaking the ice decreases, the “Blue Ocean of the North Pole,” will immediately change to the “Red Ocean,” an area of competition among the nations, because of the birth of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and its utilization, the creating of undersea cables for optical communication and furthermore, the prospect of developing oil, natural gas and other resources.
Now that we can easily see the possibility of an intense economic war between the major powers in coordination with the process of Global Catastrophe, and eventually a military war, we can say that the significance of the founding of the United Nations = the four major purposes of the UN, a theater for the demonstration of its major functions, has suddenly appeared in the Arctic Ocean!
At this moment, the US Pentagon (Department of Defense) released the “New Arctic Strategy” in July of this year. Although it seems to be a bit late, it now exactly the time for the United Nations to play a central role in harmonizing actions among nations to keep the North Pole and the Arctic, where the United States, Russia, China, and EU have joined forces, out of the waters of warfare. I have great expectations for the United Nations to carry out the mission together with other member nations.