ALMOST three-quarters of people polled across 30 countries support the creation of a wildlife sanctuary in the Arctic, a survey has found.
Polling of more than 30,000 people in countries ranging from the UK to Brazil revealed that seven out 10 (71 per cent) believed the Arctic Ocean should be free from oil drilling.
And almost two-thirds (64 per cent) thought oil drilling, oil transportation and industrial-scale fishing should be banned in international waters around the North Pole.
Across the world 74 per cent of people backed an Arctic sanctuary.
Meanwhile in the UK support was even stronger at 78 per cent.
Backing for a formally protected area for animals and marine life was highest in Argentina, Italy, India and South Africa, but it was also high in Arctic states such as Canada and the US, with almost four-fifths (78 per cent and 79 per cent respectively) supporting a sanctuary.
Two-thirds of people quizzed in the UK thought the Arctic should be free from oil exploration.
A similar number thought drilling, oil transportation and large-scale fishing should be banned in international waters round the North Pole.
The poll for Greenpeace, which last year saw 30 people on its ship the Arctic Sunrise detained by Russian security forces over a protest against oil drilling in the Russian Arctic's Pechora Sea, comes as it ramps up calls for a sanctuary in the High Arctic.
Climbers and mountaineers are scaling mountain peaks and buildings throughout the day to unfurl banners calling on governments to "Save the Arctic".
More than 900 influential people including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Emma Thompson, Sir Richard Branson and Sir Paul McCartney have signed Greenpeace's Arctic Declaration in the past two months.
The declaration which is calling for the creation of a protected area in the region to preserve its wildlife and prevent the carrying out potentially damaging activities such as oil drilling, will be presented to the embassies of Arctic states around the world.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article