Looking North: Northern England and the National Imagination (Studies in Popular Culture)

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We have for many years committed to maintaining the Arctic as an area of high cooperation and low tension, and this remains the UK’s long-term strategic aspiration, but changes in the Arctic are bringing increased interest from Arctic and non-Arctic States alike. It will build on the success of exercise Trident Juncture in 2018 and the Cold Response series of exercises. The UK seeks to work with our partners and Allies in the region to reinforce international rights to freedom of access and navigation in the Arctic.

All 197 Parties agreed to the Glasgow Climate Pact, agreeing collectively to work to reduce the gap between existing emissions reduction plans and what is required to reduce emissions, so that the rise in global average temperature can be limited to 1. Russia is increasingly militarising its Arctic territory, establishing a new Northern Joint Strategic Command, reopening Cold War-era bases above the Arctic Circle and investing further in Arctic-capable equipment. Changes in the Arctic mean that the region is seeing growing interest from both industries and countries around the world. A number of NATO Allies have sovereign territory in the High North – including Finland and Sweden whose accession to the Alliance began at the Madrid Summit in 2022. As the implementation of global climate commitments develop, the transition to Net Zero will form an increasingly important part of the UK’s maritime services sector.Following COP15, the UK will continue to lead the Global Ocean Alliance, and play a central role within the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, continuing to advocate for international ocean action and supporting implementation of the 30by30 target. The Arctic Council has been the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction on common Arctic issues since its inception in 1996. Finland is also hosting an increasing number of joint exercises with UK forces who will continue to draw on Finnish Arctic expertise. degrees remains in sight, but only with concerted and immediate global efforts to achieve a worldwide net zero transition.

Action must be taken to tackle climate change, and minimise the devastating impacts on the Arctic and the rest of the world. One way in which we do this is through formal annual consultations underpinned by international agreements, such as our fisheries framework agreements with Norway and the Faroe Islands, and memoranda of understanding with Greenland and Iceland. Three seasons of science cruises in the Barents and Greenland Seas have been completed, over 40 other science cruises with other international partners, as well as additional field work in other locations.As such, collaboration on Arctic issues remains limited to only essential work as appropriate and necessary, subject to further review. It is a partnership rooted in shared polar heritage and history, but remains bound by continuing common interest. In a changing environment, retreating sea ice, melting glaciers and warming permafrost can release chemicals and microplastics that had previously been trapped. We recognise the importance of negotiated and consensus-driven agreements through multilateral organisations, treaties and conventions such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ( UNCLOS), International Maritime Organization ( IMO) and the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic ( OSPAR). The UK will continue to pursue opportunities to cooperate further with the Kingdom of Denmark on climate policy and the protection of the Arctic environment.

Since many pollutants and marine litter impacting the Arctic originate outside of the region, global action is required. The Arctic is a sink for global pollutants, such as plastics, chemicals and air pollutants, which are transported long distances and deposited in the region through wind and ocean currents. We also work together in relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) in relation to the regulation of fisheries in the high-seas. In May 2022, the UK and Sweden agreed a bilateral political declaration of solidarity, confirming our shared desire for closer, stronger defence and security cooperation to reinforce our key strategic partnership. The High North and Arctic will potentially play a major role in meeting our energy demands in the years to come, and the potential for more accessible navigation routes may offer economic opportunities for UK trade in the future.

The UK supports their right to pursue prosperity and economic stability, and believes that the people who live in the Arctic should benefit from increasing prosperity that comes from changes in the region. The joint Canada-Iceland-UK Arctic Marine Tourism Project (for the Arctic Council’s Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group), demonstrated a total increase of 35% in the number of individual passenger vessels operating within the Arctic (as defined by the Polar Code) between 2013 and 2019.