What he said

Speaking in Finland on Tuesday at the opening session of the Arctic Council, a body of eight nations with territory in the region, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the members should no longer limit their focus to scientific collaboration, cultural matters and “environmental research into events that may or may not occur in 100 years”, an oblique reference to climate change.

Instead he warned of the dangers of Russian militarisation and Chinese investment in the Arctic, a region he described as “an arena of global power and competition”.

This is an excerpt from his speech:

“This is America’s moment to stand up as an Arctic nation and for the Arctic’s future. “Because far from the barren backcountry that many thought it to be in Seward’s time, the Arctic is at the forefront of opportunity and abundance. It houses 13 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil, 30 per cent of its undiscovered gas, and an abundance of uranium, rare earth minerals, gold, diamonds, and millions of square miles of untapped resources. Fisheries galore.

“And its centrepiece, the Arctic Ocean, is rapidly taking on new strategic significance.

“Offshore resources, which are helping the respective coastal states, are the subject of renewed competition.

“Steady reductions in sea ice are opening new passageways and new opportunities for trade. This could potentially slash the time it takes to travel between Asia and the West by as much as 20 days.

Arctic sea lanes could [become] the 21st century Suez and Panama canals.”

Steady reductions in sea ice are opening new passageways and new opportunities for trade. Mike Pompeo