Select committee: Environmental Audit Committee
Conclusion 7
Sixth Report - The UK and the Arctic Environment
Published 13 Oct 2023
Paragraph 72
Environmental Audit Committee All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Rising temperatures are rapidly changing the Arctic, allowing increased access to the region’s resources. This has led to increasing commercial activity and geopolitical competition over resources and shipping routes in the Arctic. The idea of a ‘low tension Arctic’ is becoming increasingly tenuous.
From: Environmental Audit Committee, Sixth Report - The UK and the Arctic Environment (HC 1141), paragraph 72, 13 October 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 28 December 2023 (deadline 13 December 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response agrees with some recommendations, partially agrees with others, and disagrees with the proposals for an Arctic Envoy, an additional research ship, a dedicated coordinating body and a national Arctic research plan.
- On ministerial coordination, the government agrees and says it is "looking to build on this by establishing a Ministerial group" of Ministers whose portfolios concern the Arctic, which "would meet periodically".
- It disagrees with appointing an Arctic Envoy, saying responsibility "best sits with" the Minister for the Polar Regions in the FCDO, and disagrees with a strategic national Arctic research plan because it "would not add significant value".
- On research ships, it disagrees with an additional vessel, stating that total research time available for Arctic work in any given year is "likely to be 45–50 days" for the RRS Sir David Attenborough, and points to other NOC ships and partnerships with other countries.
- On fisheries, it agrees and is "committed to joining CAOFA at the earliest possible opportunity". On deep-sea mining it partially agrees, supporting a moratorium on exploitation licences at the ISA.