Njall Trausti FRIDBERTSSON (Iceland) - GENERAL REPORT
12 October 2025
This report was adopted by the Science and Technology Committee at the 71st Annual Session held in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The Arctic is undergoing rapid transformation. Rising temperatures, melting ice and thawing permafrost are already changing the region and will continue to do so. From the end of the Cold War, the Arctic has been considered as a unique isolated region and a refuge from global politics, a notion which may become increasingly problematic and unrealistic. The impact of climate change in the Arctic, in conjunction with global strategic competition, is contributing to a more unpredictable geopolitical landscape in the region as well.
As new maritime routes and strategic corridors open across the Polar region – which also comes with the potential for accessing valuable seabed resources – at a time when the international system is under increased strain, the potential implications and risks for Euro Atlantic and global security produced by and in the Arctic will only increase. The changing climate necessitates a coordinated strategy from NATO, together with the Arctic nations on how best to cooperate on Arctic matters and to ensure they are best prepared for future vulnerabilities, including how to use new technology in the Arctic. The question arises of how NATO, Allies and partners can react to the new threat environment and together prepare for future threats in the Arctic.
This report aims to address these questions and provide Allies in the Arctic, and NATO as a whole, with recommendations on how to address vulnerabilities in the Arctic and ways in which NATO should act to use its technological edge to modernise, coordinate, and operate in the region. To counter the accelerating pace of strategic competition in the Arctic, the report concludes by recommending a coherent Arctic coordination strategy or the establishment of a coordination hub for Arctic activities and capabilities to ensure that both military and non-military Arctic initiatives do not become a patchwork of uncoordinated efforts. Further, whilst Allied Arctic capabilities undergo modernisation, the report recommends deploying already fieldable technology to increase situational awareness, while more long-term initiatives come to fruition. The Arctic requires a unified transatlantic approach to ensure peace and stability in the region.
