Russia to Present Shelf Expansion Bid Next Month
The Lomonosov Ridge, the dark blue area stretching across the North Pole, is the source to both Russian and Danish claims to ‘own’ the North Pole. (Photo: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/image/IBCAO_betamap.jpg)
The Russian delegation will file a claim to expand the Arctic shelf to the new UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in September.
The Russian delegation will file a claim to expand the Arctic shelf to the new UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in September.
"We are holding the next session in September, and I am planning to come to New York at the beginning of the month, between September 2 and 4. I will present the latest materials," Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi told Ria Novosti.
According to the Russian website The Arctic the minister noted that the commission has had new members since the middle of 2017.
"New experts have come, and we have to meet them," Donskoi said.
According to the UN Law of the Sea Convention, Russia must prove the continental nature of the ocean-bottom geological structures of the ridge in order to extend the shelf limits.
All together, the Russian application includes underwater territories with a total area of about 1.2. Million square kilometers. The claim of the Lomonosov Ridge includes the area under the North Pole, which has gotten a lot of media attention after a Russian submarine planted a titanium flag on the North Pole seabed 4300 meters bellow the surface of the Arctic Ocean in 2007.
The new commission commenced its work in June, and among the twenty-one members are experts within both geology, geophysics, hydrography and geodesy.
Russian Minister Sergei Donskoi (Photo: Russian Ministry of Natural Resources / Creative commons)