What happens in the Arctic doesn't stop in the Arctic," is common to those who know the northern region of the world well. It is often used in the field of climate, but in the end it also serves others. Let's say, geopolitics. As for climate, because the future of the world and of living beings is linked to the balance of the Arctic, and geopolitically, because the relations of that space, in which Russia and the United States have to cooperate, it is also in everyone’s interest to have as little tension as possible.

This white space of 21 million square kilometers is ecologically essential to avoid, among other things, the greenhouse effect: 80% of the solar rays reflected in the ice are directly reflected in space. In this way, when merging, there is the water of the oceans, and the rays that so far have been reflected directly warm up the ocean; in this way, global warming is increased and global balances, such as the Arctic, which has a great responsibility in the circulation of marine currents and in the movement of cold and hot waters, are unbalanced. If it is not enough, the melting pot causes methane runoff, which has so far been deposited on the sea and subsoil. Methane is a major greenhouse gas, which also aggravates climate change. Thus, among the most serious problems of the twenty-first century is the melting of the Arctic, which is occurring at high speed and in great quantity: the Arctic is heated twice as fast as the rest of the spaces, according to the Intergovernmental Group on Climate Emergency (GIEC). Imagine that the melting of the Greenland ice sheet has reached an irreversible point: In 2019, 552 billion tons of ice (the ice of the six Olympic pools per second! ). The Sea-ice-free Arctic study during the Last Interglacial supports fast future loss in 2020 gives a worrying conclusion: The Arctic banquisa will definitely disappear by 2035. "Even in the case of drastic measures, reversing the market trend is unlikely or impossible," the report reads. Following the pace of the seasons, in March it has most of the frozen space – some 15.5 million square kilometres – and in September of less. The problem is that it has fewer and fewer ice creams, 70,000 kilometers less a year, lost forever.

But what the human species looks like: instead of being a source of problems and concerns, it sees climate as an opportunity to find new oil extractions that are at the root of the emergency. Because 13% of the world's oil reserves and 30% of the natural gas are kept close in the Arctic. Lithium, cobalt, tungsten -- what to say about the minerals stored in these lands. A total of 230 mining projects have been launched and an additional 400 projects are expected to be discharged, as reported by the NGO Reclaim Finance in a statement. It's the 2021 numbers, because if there's more today, you don't remember a determined policy against it.

These explorations and farms are not new in themselves, but the melting of ice only increases the trend. If so far it was inevitable that the Arctic would be moved as little as possible, this objective seems to have less and less weight within the Arctic Assembly. However, the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, signed in 1991, is the foundation of the organization, an important declaration that sets the objective of preserving the environment. USA, Canada, Russia, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Finland, as well as six associations ensuring the representation of indigenous witnesses. The need to advance the United States and Russia at the same table and with the same objectives is not easy, but they have found the way less or more, with responsibilities in a way. But the war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022,...

Contacts frozen since the war in Ukraine

All of them were convened in March 2022 by Russian Sergei Lavrov, who had just assumed the presidency of the organization, but were not explained to them. They had taken the political decision to abandon Russia completely from the Arctic Conference and today they remain in the same position. Moscow has responded by paralysing the financing of the organisation. Of course, the fact that in the last two years Finland and Sweden have become members of NATO has not facilitated relations: all the Conference Member States are now part of the OTAN.El climate is, once again, one of the main ones affected by exclusion: frozen
relations mean that the Russians have no more data than those who are carrying out scientific monitoring of climate developments. Nature Climate Chang raised the alarm with his report of 22 January: "Knowledge of the changes that are taking place in this region of the world, which is already absolutely worrying, is increasingly distorted." More than half of the Arctic, which is part of Russia, are essential data for the analysis of the climate emergency. Moreover, given the development strategy outlined by Russia for the coming years – development of the North Canal to Asia; extraction of raw materials and multiplication of military bases.

To cope with sorrows: the new road leading to Asia

In the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the merger of Arctic Moscow gives the possibility to deal with the sanctions that the West has imposed on Russia. It is precisely because the Northern Canal, which links Europe and Asia, is becoming more and more useful. It is currently operational from July to the end of October and thanks to the icebreakers the companies try to extend this section as far as possible. In its strategy of replacing the lost markets in the West with those in Asia, this path is much more interesting: shorter, cheaper and, moreover, with less sea theft. It has control of almost all the way over the waters of Russia and cannot be used without the permission of Moscow, knowing that only Russian icebreaker boats can be used. In other words, for the time being, Russia has total control over the situation in Syria.

However, it will never equal the Suez channel: Moscow’s goal is to transport 160 million tonnes by 2025, while Suezti currently has an annual volume of 1,410 million tonnes. And less badly. Thanks to the beautiful and violent environment of the place: under the threat of icebergs and between gross constants, the road remains dangerous. Let us hope that this danger interrupts us for a long time, let us say, because a black tide would make us the hard way out. But that's not remembered by those who have thaw as an opportunity to get more oil.