The Arctic Gold Rush: Another Reason to Ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty?

For better or for worse, the Arctic ice caps may be melting, opening up lots of virgin territory for economic development, the NYT reports. It may also raise the stakes over U.S. non-ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

There appears to be lots of money to be made from melting ice caps. A Denver entrepreneur, for instance, bought a port from Canada that might turn into a $100 million port facility for a mere $7. Maybe as much as “one quarter of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas resources lies in the Arctic, according to the United States Geological Survey.”

The NYT suggests that the prospect of an Arctic gold rush may finally spur the U.S. Senate to move on the UNCLOS, which gives countries the right to claim the continental shelf extending from their territory under the sea. Russia has already invoked this treaty to claim the shelf under about half of the Arctic. The U.S., currently a signatory but not a party to the treaty, cannot directly invoke UNCLOS procedures and rules to challenge Russia (although we can be sure Canada will).

On the other hand, the U.S. already recognizes the relevant provisions of UNCLOS related to the continental shelf as customary international law. So the U.S. would follow the same rules. All it would miss out on is the UNCLOS dispute resolution procedures. But that may actually work to the U.S.’s long term benefit, forcing other states to bargain with the U.S. rather than litigate.