Cross Posted from NunatsiaqOnline
Four young people with Greenpeace have planted a flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole, at the same spot where a submarine planted a Russian flag claiming the Arctic for Russia, Greenpeace said April 15.
The young people planted a “flag for the future” four kilometres beneath the ice and called for the region to be declared a global sanctuary.
This past weekend, at the geographic North Pole, the trekkers, led by two Arctic indigenous youth, cut a hole in the ice and lowered down a flag designed by a child from Malaysia.
Greenpeace said the flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the signatures of nearly three million people, including actors, musicians, artists and business leaders.
They asked for their names to be taken to the North Pole when they joined Greenpeace’s campaign calling for the Arctic to be protected from exploitation, Greenpeace said.
“By coming to the top of the world and planting this flag, we’re hoping to inspire young people everywhere. We’re here to say this special area of the Arctic belongs to no person or nation, but is the common heritage of everyone on Earth,” said Josefina Skerk, 26, the Saami parliament member from Sweden.
“Our names and those of millions more are now planted on the seabed beneath the Pole. Together we’re asking that this area be declared a global sanctuary, off-limits to oil companies and political posturing. We stand in solidarity with indigenous peoples, in the whole of the Arctic, whose way of life is now being threatened by the unchecked greed of industry,” she said.
The trek coincided with the meeting of the Arctic Council’s top officials at the Barneo research camp. As the expedition started, Skerk requested a meeting with the group, but was refused, Greenpeace said.
The young people traveled around 10 kilometres a day, dragging heavy sledges. They then hitched a ride with a helicopter that was flying in from Barneo, allowing them to ski and drift a shorter final distance to the North Pole.
