Ottawa--The thawing of the polar ice promises Arctic nations new opportunities to open ocean trade routes and offshore oil fields.
But the chill in relations between Western powers and their Arctic neighbor Russia could make the North a frontline in a new Cold War.
Senior envoys from the countries of the Arctic Council will meet on Thursday in the Canadian Arctic city of Iqaluit, on Baffin Island.
The United States will assume chairmanship of the group with a call to address the threats and new opportunities of climate change.
But the bear in the room is Russia, already at loggerheads with the West over the crisis in Ukraine, and newly assertive in the Arctic.
During World War II, Iqaluit was an airfield used to ferry planes and supplies to Europe.
Now, it is an Arctic hub, and any warplanes in the sky are likely NATO jets scrambled to intercept probing Russian patrols.
The Arctic Council brings together ministers from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
They will be joined by observers from the region's indigenous peoples and nations, including from China, seeking an economic foothold.
"I can think of no other place on planet Earth where we have more opportunity than the Arctic," US Senator Lisa Murkowski told the Center for Strategic and International Studies last week.
According to a 2008 study by the US Geological Survey, the Arctic may hold 13 percent of the planet's undiscovered oil and 30 percent of the world's natural gas.
The melting ice also creates shorter shipping routes between the Pacific and the Atlantic -- connecting markets in Europe and Asia.
Temporarily at least, the recent plunge in oil prices makes costly Arctic oil exploration less attractive.
But the number of ships crossing the Bering Strait is already on the rise.
AFP
