Arctic Treaty Flashcards
1
Q
Who and when was the Arctic Treaty formed?
A
- formed in 1966
- by governments of 8 countries with 6 indigenous communities
2
Q
What can the Arctic Treaty do?
A
- has no legal powers to prevent member countries from carrying out harmful activities
3
Q
What is the international treaty called in order to protect the Arctic?
A
The Paris Agreement
4
Q
What is the Paris Agreement?
A
- signed by 195 countries in 2015
- the first legally binding global climate agreement
5
Q
How does the Paris Agreement help?
A
- Sets out of a global action plan to help the world to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees
- It may help slow the rate at which Arctic sea ice is melting
5
Q
What are the other international treaties that help to protect the Arctic?-
A
- United Nations Conventions on the law of the sea
- Convention on biological diversity
- Long range treaty on atmospheric pollution
6
Q
What did Greenpeace propose for an Arctic sanctuary?
A
- Wants to establish a marine nature reserve where any human activity harmful to wildlife would be banned
7
Q
Where would the Arctic sanctuary be?
A
- It would cover the Central Arctic Ocean
- Beyond the 200-nautical-mile limit from the coasts of Arctic countries
- This area is called the ‘high seas’ which is shared by the international community
- No one country has rights over it
8
Q
What does Greenpeace’s proposal for the Arctic sanctuary include?
A
- no fishing
- no exploration or drilling for oil and gas
- no mining on the sea bed
- no military activity
- strict environmental controls on shipping
9
Q
The Arctic still faces many threats such as?
A
- global warming is melting sea ice in the Arctic ocean
- resource exploitation like oil drilling damages the environment
- pollution from all over the world affects Arctic ecosystems
- unique Arctic species such as polar bears are declining
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