Greenpeace cites Singapore's Arctic 'icebreaking' business

Melting Arctic ice has opened up possibilities for alternative Arctic trade routes that can potentially shorten shipping journeys, posing a threat on the importance of Singapore in maritime industry and forcing the island nation to get involved in the icebreaking industry.

 

Greenpeace Southeast Asia political adviser Zelda Soriano blames Singapore's realpolitik tradition in which “politics and diplomacy are based on practical rather than moral or ideological consideration,” especially when it comes to the icebreaking industry in the Arctic region. 

 

“Icebreaking is Singapore's alternative business should the new route eventually out-compete the old route,” Soriano said in a text message to GMA News Online. “Singapore would not lose anything then as it is in business in the old and new route,” she added.

 

Its biggest state-controlled shipping company, Keppel Corp., joined the Arctic icebreaking market in 2008. They also partnered with ConocoPhilips last year to design the first ice-worthy jackup rig for Arctic offshore drilling.

 

Singapore is “doing business in icebreaking the Arctic” and is “profiting from climate change” while protecting its international seaport, Soriano noted in a blog post.

 

Singapore holds an observer status in the Arctic Council and is one of 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a region suffering from climate change.

 

“Ang nangyayari ngayon, ang Singapore, instead of protecting the Arctic, miyembro pa naman ito ng Arctic Council, ay nagpadala pa sila ng mga state-of-the-art ships... Ang trabaho ng mga ships na ito ay basagin ang Arctic ice,” Soriano said in the 2015 Climate Challenge media forum of the ASEAN for a Fair, Ambitious, and Binding Global Climate Deal (AFAB), Thursday.

'Protect the Arctic'

 

Soriano called for ASEAN to join the campaign and protect the Arctic region “which eventually will protect us from climate change impacts.

 

“We are calling ASEAN to please... mapagusapan naman ito at magkaroon ng common call to protect the Arctic,” she said.

 

The ASEAN may intercede by reminding Singapore of its regional interest in saving the Arctic and convincing the member-states to bring this call to the Arctic Council, Soriano noted.

 

This is not an easy task, given the current ASEAN consensus-based way of negotiation and implementation, she added.

 

In the northernmost part of the Arctic sea, the ice helps temper the climate, but melting causes sea levels to rise and fosters extreme weather events. ASEAN countries are among the areas deemed most vulnerable to such environmental threats.

 

“Ang trabaho po ng Arctic is to regulate the global temperature. Kung mababawasan significantly and yelo, then that function will be interrupted,” Soriano said.

 

Over 75 percent of the Arctic has melted in the last 30 years. It has also been predicted that the North Pole will have an ice-free summer in 10 to 20 years, Soriano said. — VC/VS, GMA News