Why the Arctic Is Being Threatened by War and Climate Change

Vast, frozen and remote, the high Arctic has long been a neutral region, belonging to everyone and no one. But a post-Cold War era characterized by de-militarization and scientific cooperation among the countries that border it is being tested by both global warming and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Melting sea ice is opening trade routes and creating new possibilities for resource exploration, prompting expanded claims for seabed rights by some states. At the same time, Russia’s war is fomenting military tensions and thwarting normal cooperation within the eight-nation Arctic Council, a forum for tackling common issues. Meanwhile, the need has never been greater for responsible stewardship of a region that serves as a planetary defense against climate change.

In the immediate aftermath of the Ukraine invasion, meetings of the Arctic Council were suspended. Created in 1996, its membership includes all the nations bordering the Arctic: the US, Canada, Iceland, Denmark (on behalf of Greenland), Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Six Indigenous groups are represented as well. Over the years, 13 non-Arctic states, including China, have been added as observers. Although progress toward resuming some of the council’s work has been made, the long-term efficacy of the body — which operates by consensus — remains unclear. There is no legal mechanism to force Russia off the council. Were it to quit, the path forward would be more straightforward. But the Arctic Council would be a much-diminished body without the world’s largest Arctic nation.