The EU talks big on protecting the Arctic under the guise of ‘sustainable development’

Half a millennium ago, the myth of a lost city of gold drove scores of Europeans to the Americas in search of wealth. Today, images of a new ‘El Dorado’ with fathomless (energy) resources are attracting players from all over the world to a very different place: the Arctic. Driven by the prospect of economic, primarily energy-related opportunities, a myriad of national governments – from Arctic (Canada) to non-Arctic (China) states – and companies are trying to establish a foothold in an extremely fragile region that is key to the Earth’s environmental and climatic system.