mr president the arctic plays an increasingly important geo-strategic role in the world and we are now faced with the opening of hitherto closed seaways as a direct result of global climate change
this should not come as any surprise to us however as the arctic is warming at a much faster rate with an increase of two c in temperature in the last hundred years compared to an average of zero point six c increase in the rest of the world
this highly fragile and vulnerable ecosystem is coming under increasing pressure from resource-hungry nations which wish to exploit its potential
without any multilateral governance in place we would have no guarantee that they would have due regard for the sustainable lifestyle of the indigenous peoples or for the arctic's fundamental importance as a stabilising force for the world's climate
the arctic is critical for global climate stability and i would urge the commission to ensure that this is fully reflected in the forthcoming commission communication on arctic policy together of course with energy and security policy matters
and as paragraph nine of our resolution says by virtue of its impact on the world's climate and its singular natural environment the arctic merits special consideration as the eu develops its position for the two thousand and nine cop fifteen framework convention on climate change in copenhagen and as we discuss a framework for multilateral governance for this unique area
