Article
Wang Tao
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"Carnegie China"
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"primaryCenter": "Carnegie China",
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Source: Getty
In The Media
What Future for the Arctic
As a result of hastened climate change, shipping lanes in the Arctic region have opened and interest in its considerable natural resources has been piqued.
By Wang Tao
Published on Jun 9, 2013
Source: CCTV
Speaking to CCTV, Carnegie-Tsinghua’s Wang Tao explained that China, which has observer status at the Arctic Council, can contribute a lot to the Arctic region. As a stakeholder in the Arctic area and a rising global power, “China is responsible for improving the global governance of the environment,” said Wang. Talking about climate change and the environment more broadly, Wang highlighted that China is coming under increasing pressure to sign on to binding emissions targets and that China should focus on improving both domestic and international environmental situations simultaneously, not domestic first.
There have been no geological surveys so far to gauge resources under the Arctic sea-bed, Wang continued, and the primary purpose of the Arctic Council is environmental preservation, not resource exploitation. Nevertheless, the five Asian countries joining the Arctic Council as observers highlights how these “energy hungry” countries are very interested in the potential natural resources stored in the Arctic, concluded Wang.
About the Author
Wang Tao
Former Nonresident Scholar, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy
Wang Tao was a nonresident scholar in the Energy and Climate Program based at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy.
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Wang Tao, Yang Yifang
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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