Foreign Office Minister of State responsible for the polar regions, Lord Goldsmith, gave a keynote speech to launch the UK's new Arctic policy framework:
US objections to the wording on climate change prevented Arctic nations signing a joint statement at a summit in Finland, delegates said. It is the first time such a statement has been cancelled since the Arctic Council was set up in 1996.
Top diplomats from the United States, Russia and other nations which border the Arctic meet in Finland on Monday to discuss policies governing the polar region, as tensions grow over how to deal with global warming and access to mineral wealth.