EU clashes with Greenland over international stewardship of Arctic | Environment | guardian.co.uk

EU clashes with Greenland over international stewardship of Arctic | Environment | guardian.co.uk

The European Union has clashed with Greenland and other Arctic nations over their perceived failure to ensure wider international stewardship over the far north.

Diana Wallis, the vice-president of the EU, said she could see "people on the streets" protesting if this fragile environment was not seen to be safeguarded properly.

In response, a Greenland foreign minister accused European countries of "panic reactions" in pushing for a deep-water drilling ban after the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

At a workshop under the aegis of Nato held at Cambridge University, Wallis said she was bored by continuing talk rather than immediate action over wider participation in the Arctic Council.