The UK and the Arctic: Minister Kumaran's speech at the launch of the United Kingdom's Arctic Policy Framework

Minister for the Polar Regions, Uma Kumaran MP, delivers remarks at the launch of the Update to the United Kingdom's Arctic Policy Framework

Thank you everyone for joining us this afternoon for the launch of our updated Arctic policy framework.

If you haven't got a copy of the book, I hope you will all be holding one by the end of this event. So many of you in the room have helped shape this framework, including Arctic state partners, Indigenous representatives, and colleagues across government. Lots of you are here in the room today, so let me thank you all for sharing your expertise with us.

It's just three and a half years since we published Looking North', but I needn't remind any of us in this room why this update is needed now. I, and many of us here, received that last week at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik. I saw first hand the sense of constant change and how relevant it is today, because the Arctic is changing before our eyes, and we could see and feel that when we were out there.

At that gathering, over 2,000 people from 60 countries - politicians, diplomats, scientists, researchers, NGOs, and business representatives - were in the room, not just from the Arctic, but from around the world. All with their own interests, but all united by a shared recognition of the importance of the region.

And for all those who live there in the Arctic, it's not just a region, that's home. And I'm really conscious when I talk about the Arctic that I speak about this in terms of understanding that it is also the place where people live, work, and call home.

But for others globally, the Arctic is an opportunity for renewed focus on the opportunities in the region, but also the challenges.

It's a region undergoing really rapid change - one of the most significant and rapid periods of change in its history.

It's being reshaped by climate change, increasing strategic relevance and geopolitical competition, as Russia continues its campaign of militarisation, and of growing economic interest.

And you could really sense that being in the room in the Arctic Circle Assembly, just how many people from around the world are there.

The scale and speed of the changes taking place will touch the lives of families and communities across the region, and the wildlife and resources that they depend on.

And look, many of you in this room know the challenges reach far beyond the Arctic, shaping weather, climate, economy, and security, including for us here in the United Kingdom.

But history tells us that changes in the Arctic affect all of us, so it's really important we're having this discussion here today.

Indeed, for over 500 years, our lives have been intertwined with the Arctic through exploration, through scientific discovery, and enduring partnerships. All of this is interconnected.

Yet the pace of today's change and the urgency of the response is new.

In March 2025, Arctic winter sea ice reached the lowest annual maximum recorded in the 47-year record. That is a huge, huge fact.

Between 2023 and 2024, glaciers in Arctic Scandinavia and Svalbard experienced their largest net loss of ice on record.

At the same time, the Arctic is more competitive and more contested than ever. A deteriorating security of travel increases the risks to the region and beyond, with the potential to challenge many of the rules which underpin the region's stability.

This is unfolding at the same time as the Arctic is becoming more accessible for tourism, for commercial shipping and trade, and that brings with it opportunities as well as challenges to our safety, our security, and our environment.

We're already seeing the effects of many of these developments, particularly on our weather, on our food supply, on domestic resilience, on our economy, and national security. And all of those effects are only set to increase.

So our updated Arctic policy is a response to this.

It sets out five priorities: understanding and responding to a changing Arctic, enhancing security and stability, supporting effective governance, building responsible economic partnerships, and strengthening resilience.

These priorities are not just about the UK's interests. By bringing together expertise across science, technology, and security, the UK is offering practical capability to help our collective response to the challenges in the Arctic.

And so we're seeking to deliver these priorities by deepening our understanding of the Arctic and helping communities adapt to change by improving resilience and bolstering research, as well as working with our allies to keep the Arctic secure and stable.

Because there's no UK security or indeed global security without Arctic security.

So central to all this is supporting responsible and sustainable economic growth, and achieving all of that requires a coordinated, all of government approach.

But today I want to focus on two things in particular.

The first is science. Good decisions start with evidence. Good evidence, and thanks to many of you in this room for providing us with that. Since 2014, the United Kingdom's Natural Environment Research Council has invested more than £145 million in Arctic science.

Our research vessel, Sir David Attenborough, by the way, she's a She, has been working with Greenland's partners and others to better understand the connection between ice sheet loss and warming in Arctic waters, and I'm pleased that we're going further still with an initial £13 million investment alongside the Research Council of Norway to better understand a changing Arctic Ocean and what that means for our future.

We're also investing more than £4 million over the next three years to support new research partnerships, including with the Arctic Council and the next generation of Arctic researchers.

This science is not just critical for monitoring and informing how we protect a changing Arctic, but also for understanding the implications of that change for our future security and prosperity, and as I said, all of this is interconnected.

And as the climate impacts escalate, and as we head towards the international polar year of 2032-33, there's never been a better or more important time for this work.

The second theme is partnership, which is why so many of you are in this room with us today, because no country can either understand or manage these changes alone.

As the Foreign Secretary said recently, this is about making people safer for today and building a better future for tomorrow, and that's as true in the Arctic as it is anywhere.

The Arctic Council, and I'd like to wholeheartedly congratulate them on the 30th anniversary last month, has done so much to foster collaboration and remains, in our view, critical to convening the growing global interest in the Arctic.

Our partnerships with Arctic state allies and with indigenous partners, including through the council, are crucial to our engagement in the region. But we also recognise the important relationships that we have with others, including fellow Arctic Council observers, the European Union, and many others represented in the room today.

Our interest is in building on these because, at a huge time of profound change, there has never been a greater need for international partnership. And what we do together now will not only help shape our shared futures in this region, but also the future of our planet and all of us and our people.

So, through this refreshed framework, the UK is making a very, very clear commitment. Imminently, I think in the next 30 minutes, Parliament will be hearing about this, where I've laid a Written Ministerial Statement about this.

It's our commitment to being a reliable neighbour, a partner in science and stewardship, and a steadfast ally in maintaining stability and security on which the Arctic future and our own depends.

And friends, I'mgoing to leave you with a message of hope and awe.

The awe is that in this room, in this part of the room, there is 4,000-year-old ice. This ice core is here for vital research purposes. So please have a look, you're allowed to touch. I did touch it earlier. I was told that this ice was forming at the same time that the pyramids were being formed, and I think that's an incredible fact. I heard some of the crackling and popping for myself, so please do have a look.

And the hope to all those who call the Arctic home, and to all the rest of us, for whom our security, our weather, our food, and so much more depends on Arctic security.

In the words of Dr Astorga and the book that I've been gifted today, too much pessimism can be the enemy of the very action we urgently need. Hope is not lazy of optimism for looking away from the crisis, but an attitude grounded in science, driven by action, and resilient in the face of setbacks. So I hope you will keep those words close to you, guys. Thank you.