Richard Page, Greenpeace Oceans campaigner, has written the following reply to ‘Greenpeace – Running With the Arctic Hare and Hunting With Washington Hounds’. (Links added by Changing More Than Lightbulbs.)
Unsurprisingly and, as explained previously, we do not share your analysis of the current situation. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides the international legal framework for the management of the ocean and has delivered many benefits. Remember, before UNCLOS there was a virtual free-for-all. It is true that under UNCLOS, countries are able — within the rules set out by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf — to extend their continental shelves and have rights to minerals on or under the seabed, but our Arctic campaign is clear that with rights come responsibilities and that the Arctic coastal states must act responsibly. The establishment of a sanctuary in the central Arctic Ocean is entirely feasible but is dependent on political will. Our campaign is designed to push the global community to do the right thing.
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