The glaciers are collapsing, the sea ice is melting, the local fauna is in danger ... And the great world powers are fighting.
Not to save the planet but to know who will have access to the natural resources which are currently under the ice.
It is the sad influence game that tells the documentary "Arctic, the Pole War", broadcast Tuesday evening on France 5.
When we think of the Arctic, we imagine an uninhabited place, and a few polar bears on the ice floe.
It is a territory very little known to the French which is the subject of a fascinating documentary, broadcast Tuesday evening on France 5 and entitled
Arctic, la guerre des poles
.
In fact, the Arctic is first and foremost the site of an environmental drama, as the director of the documentary, Agnès Hubschman explains, on Tuesday, on Europe 1.
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Originally, the director of the documentary, Agnès Hubschman, wanted to report on this drama.
But her research has taken her elsewhere.
"I was really on the move to make a more environmental film. As this work progressed, we realized that the geopolitical consequences were immense. There is a completely insane dichotomy between the drama that was taking place. play out in the Arctic on the environmental level and the position of the States, the great powers to try, on the contrary, to take advantage of this melting and this ongoing catastrophe. And it was this difference between the two that shocked a lot and that really made me want to do something about it, ”she says.
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"A great influence game"
The director explains in particular that she discovered "the voracious and unbridled appetite of the great powers" in the region.
The title of the documentary,
Arctic, the Pole War,
is the symbol of this race to appropriate natural resources.
For Agnès Hubschman, "it is not a war since there is no armed conflict, but rather an accumulation of tensions".
"It is a great game of influence between the greatest powers who are trying to assert their power and take a seat in this region which has become strategic", she continues.
These great powers are Russia, China, but also the United States.
Agnès Hubschman explains why these countries are rubbing their hands when an environmental tragedy occurs.
"It allows access to new resources which have been protected for years by layers of ice and which will perhaps be accessible when the pack ice has melted, when the temperatures are a little warmer", specifies the director.
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New maritime routes
These states, which have control over the Arctic region, are also waiting for the formation of "new maritime routes" with global warming.
According to the director of the documentary, "the fact that the ice melts will open the roads, commercial navigation will perhaps be possible through this area".
To understand the issues at stake in the Arctic region, the documentary
Arctic, the Pole War
, is to be seen Tuesday evening at 8:50 p.m. on France 5.