Topic:
Country: Kenya
Delegate Name: Giselle Green
Country: Kenya
Delegate Name: Giselle Green
Committee: Special Political Committee
Topic: Arctic Circle Resource Exploitation
The Arctic Circle is home to many species and helps regulate the Earth’s climate. The areas in the Arctic Circle are also used for mineral and oil extraction. As you can see, it is a very important resource. By the late 1990’s, the arctic sea ice cover began a trend of being below the norm for annual and monthly anomalies. This is an extremely important matter because the arctic circle’s temperature increases about twice as fast as the rest of the globe. This results in increased sea levels and intense weather. The exploitation of resources and increased human activity in the Arctic Circle is accelerating climate change at an alarming rate. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was put into place in 1982 to regulate the extraction of the resources in our oceans/seas. Under this constitution: Canada, Russia, Denmark, Norway and the United States have the right to exploit the Arctic Circle’s resources. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the United States are all a part of the Arctic Council. These countries are in charge of and regulate the law concerning the Arctic Circle.
Kenya is in support of the protection of Arctic Circle resources. Kenya does not currently obtain its oil or mineral sources from the Arctic Circle. We believe that further precautions should be taken to preserve the resources of the Arctic Circle and reduce climate change. Norway and Kenya are on good terms with each other. Seeing as Norway is a part of both the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Arctic Council, this relationship is very advantageous. The Royal Norwegian Embassy holds a location in Nairobi, Kenya. This organization’s goal is to have a more sustainable development of natural resources and reduce carbon emissions. Overall, they want to add restrictions to the exploitation of the arctic circle while also still being able to use some of the resources to allow economical benefits.
As a country in favor of Arctic Circle Resource Exploitation reform, Kenya has a proposal on how to do this. An increase in the monitoring and restricting of resource exploitation is one of the first steps toward solving this issue. This would be done by either laying down stricter laws or reinforcing previous ones under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Although only a select few countries are legally able to extract resources, this is still causing a major problem. Making sure these resources are being used sustainably is very important to Kenya. We would definitely be in favor of passing a resolution to improve the use of Arctic Circle resources.
