IT SEEMS unlikely that governments will ever make the a 鈥渉ands-off鈥� zone by signing an accord akin to the Antarctic treaty. But thanks to a rarely quoted section of international law, a big chunk of the Arctic is already safe from national claims, according to , head of the Arctic Ocean geopolitics programme at Cambridge University鈥檚 . He hopes the revelation will offer the opportunity to make the North Pole a 鈥減ole of peace鈥�.
In London last week, Berkman told the UK鈥檚 Royal Society that the Arctic Ocean centres on an area of 鈥渉igh seas鈥� 鈥� as defined by the International Law of the Sea 鈥� that falls outside all national marine boundaries and so cannot be claimed by any one country. The high seas do not legally include the sea floor 鈥� where deposits such as oil and gas may lie 鈥� but could be a starting point for agreements on how to use the Arctic peacefully.