According to a report by the US Geological Survey released in 2008, approximately 3600 billion tons of fossil fuel are still buried underground, and the Arctic contains just more than a fifth of the world undiscovered, recoverable oil and natural gas resources. As global warming reduces the polar ice cap, new oil and gas fields will become accessible

“Arctic has become the crossroad of interests of coastal nations and other States outside this region, because a lot of natural resources have been discovered here” says Aslan Abashidze Professor of International Law at the Peoples'Friendship University of Russia.

Russia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, the U. S., European Union and China are raising a fierce competition to get those resources first.

But the Arctic is also inhabited by 4 milion people, 10% of which are indigenous people, whose rights are often neglected, as Timo Koivurova, Director of the Arctic Center at the University of Lapland, explains.