A Norwegian soldier taking part in a military exercise. The country is doubling its defence budget to meet threats. Reuters
A Norwegian soldier taking part in a military exercise. The country is doubling its defence budget to meet threats. Reuters
A Norwegian soldier taking part in a military exercise. The country is doubling its defence budget to meet threats. Reuters
A Norwegian soldier taking part in a military exercise. The country is doubling its defence budget to meet threats. Reuters

Norway warns melting Arctic ice increases chance of major conflict


Thomas Harding
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Global warming in the Arctic has significantly increased the “likelihood of conflict” in the region, one of Norway’s state secretaries for defence has warned.

As a result, the Nordic country was rapidly rearming with five new warships, six submarines along with increased space surveillance to observe Russian and Chinese movements, said Anne Marie Aanerud.

With global warming melting the Arctic four times faster than elsewhere, vast tracts of land are now being exposed with growing fears that the landscape, rich in minerals, could become another flashpoint for global powers.

“Global warming is accelerating,” she told a conference hosted by the Royal United Services Institute think tank. “The likelihood of conflict, involving Norway, or our allies, has increased.”

The region was strategically important to many countries and increasingly to China. “We must therefore expect great power competition in this region,” said the state secretary.

The Arctic will become more accessible due to rising temperatures and melting sea ice “so we should expect more civil and military activity to follow as a consequence”, she said.

Russian nuclear submarines berthed at a naval base in Gazhiyevo, the Kola Peninsula, north-west Russia. AP
Russian nuclear submarines berthed at a naval base in Gazhiyevo, the Kola Peninsula, north-west Russia. AP

Unintended escalation threat

The consequences of climate change and Russia's war in Ukraine was already impacting geopolitics in the region.

With its Black Sea Fleet suffering significant losses and largely confined to port and its Baltic operations curtailed by Sweden and Finland joining Nato, Moscow’s Northern Fleet based on the Kola Peninsula was now its prime maritime force.

But the increased Arctic activity would elevate the risk of “misunderstanding, accidents and unintended escalation”, Ms Aanerud warned.

“Russia is now relying very heavily on a strategy of nuclear deterrence, as it has suffered great conventional losses in Ukraine.”

A “very significant amount” of Russia's nuclear capability is now based in the high north on the Kola Peninsula, close to the Norwegian border, she said.

Norwegian tanks on manoeuvres. AFP
Norwegian tanks on manoeuvres. AFP

Defence budget doubled

With the growing threat of conflict Norway has embarked on a major rearmament programme, doubling its defence spending with £45 billion to be spent over the next 12 years in what was described as a “massive boost” to its forces.

Sharing a 200km border with Russia meant that surveillance was a key priority for Norway, particularly of Russia’s nuclear submarines.

The country is now investing in drones for maritime surveillance, a fleet of P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and “space based capabilities” with satellites and a nationally owned spaceport capable of launching both military and civilian rockets.

In addition to the five new frigates and six submarines, Norway has already received 40 out of an order of 52 F-35 stealth jets and is expanding its army from one to three brigades, equipping them with long-range precision weapons and air defence systems.

“It's a very innovative strategy that we haven't tried before,” said Ms Aanerud. “Hopefully, we will be successful.”

“We will now have a key role in defending our neighbours that we have never had before as a Nato member.”

A fast attack craft of the Skjold-class of the Norwegian navy, at Sandstrand, northern Norway. AFP
A fast attack craft of the Skjold-class of the Norwegian navy, at Sandstrand, northern Norway. AFP

Arctic arena

Vernon Coaker, a UK defence minister, told the Rusi conference that while Britain was “quite rightly” focused on the flashpoints of Ukraine and the Middle East “we cannot and must not allow ourselves to be deflected from considering other challenges that are emerging across the world”.

The Arctic was one of those areas as it was becoming “one of the most important, strategically important regions” with its ice now rapidly melting.

He acknowledged that Russia had a legitimate interest in the high north but it also had to be recognised that “politically and environmentally the Arctic is a region under strain and it demands our attention”.

“Rising temperatures are remoulding the landscape and turning years of uncertainty on their head,” he said.

The Arctic would also form a significant part of Britain’s upcoming strategic defence review, he added.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

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Expert input

If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?

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“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche

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ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

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A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

Match info

Uefa Champions League Group H

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

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Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
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Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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Feb 12 Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal

Feb 15 Middlesbrough 3-0 Arsenal

Feb 19 Arsenal 2-3 West Ham

Feb 26 Middlesbrough 4-1 Arsenal (FA Cup)

Mar 01 Everton 2-1 Arsenal

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Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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Last 10 winners of African Footballer of the Year

2006: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2007: Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla and Mali)
2008: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo)
2009: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2010: Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan and Cameroon)
2011: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2012: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2013: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2014: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2015: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund and Gabon)
2016: Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City and Algeria)

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
  1. Join parent networks
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Updated: September 04, 2024, 6:00 AM`