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please read thisinteresting article posted by Irene Quaile on www.dw.de/greenpeace

Moscow rejects the authority of an international tribunal hearing an appeal for the release of the "Arctic 30" Greenpeace activists detained in Russia. Meanwhile, it's business as usual in the race for Arctic oil.

Some 13 percent of the world's remaining undiscovered oil reserves, 30 percent of its gas are estimated to be in the Arctic. The higher the price of energy, the faster the ice melts, the greater the international interest in a region becoming increasingly accessible as the world continues to warm. At the same time concern is growing amongst those who see development as a threat to the sensitive environment of the "High North" - and an increasing risk for the global climate: the burning of more fossil fuels would further intensify global change by producing more CO2 emissions.

The harsh nature of Russia's reaction to the Greenpeace protest at the Prirazlomnaya oil rig in the Arctic demonstrates how important the region has become for the government in Moscow. Thirty of the activists and accompanying journalists have been held in jail in Russia since the Greenpeace ship "Arctic Sunrise" was impounded by Russian security officers two months ago. Last week, the Russian Federation boycotted a hearing at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), saying the court had no authority in the matter.

http://www.dw.de/greenpeace-vs-russia-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/a-17213847?goback=.gde_44458_member_5806416333755162624#!