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The United Kingdom has one of the longest histories of interest and activity in the Arctic of any country. Merchants, hunters, sailors and scientists have visited the Arctic from the British Isles since at least the 15th Century. Most famous of all were the expeditions to discover fabled marine passages through the north to the lucrative markets of East Asia. Yet while attempts to navigate passage through the Arctic foundered – often tragically as in the case of Sir John Franklin – they facilitated the emergence of whaling, sealing, fishing and fur trapping industries in North America and Russia. Both the Muscovy Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company were founded by English royal charters, and resources brought back from the Arctic were used to feed the expansion of British industry. It is worth noting that by contemporary standards, the UK was an Arctic state until 1880, when it gave up its remaining Arctic territories to Canada.

By the early 20th Century, the nature of the UK’s relationship with the region had changed further. After the search for the Franklin expedition ended, the British government turned away from the Arctic to focus its attention on Antarctica. Overfishing and the declining use of whale oil also led to a reduction in the UK’s long-standing use of Arctic resources to feed its economy (although coal mining on Svalbard was still of interest). However, the emerging strategic importance of the region during the First World War brought the UK back to the Arctic as the British sought first to support its White Russian allies during the Russian revolution, and later the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The strategic importance of the region would remain high throughout the rest of the 20th Century as the UK became a lynchpin in the defence of Norway and the North Atlantic against the threat of the Soviet Union, and its nuclear-armed submarines patrolled beneath the Arctic sea-ice.

After a period of limited engagement in the 1990s (although the UK was an observer to the Ottawa convention in 1996, attended the first Arctic Council ministerial meeting in 1998, and has maintained a national scientific research programme in the Arctic since the end of the Cold War), interest in the Arctic is growing again, driven by concerns about climate change, emerging economic opportunities, and defence and security. As an island nation, highly dependent on global trade, the geostrategic importance of a new ocean becoming navigable, for at least part of the year, is also attracting interest.

This page was updated on 1 January 2023. If we have missed anything, please contact info@thearcticinstitute.org.

The United Kingdoms’s recent set of Arctic policies were first set out in Adapting to Change: UK policy towards the Arctic, a white paper first published in 2013.

The document sets out that the UK’s approach to international cooperation in the Arctic is built on three pillars: respect for the sovereign rights of the Arctic states and views and interests of people who live and work in the Arctic; leadership on issues such as climate change and international scientific cooperation; and cooperation with all other Arctic stakeholders. According to the paper, the UK’s main interest areas are in climate change, environmental protection and economic development. It does not address defence issues although this is also an area where the UK has interests and responsibilities. Underpinning all aspects of the UK’s engagement with the region is a commitment to undertaking, and using, high-quality, independent science. This is being coordinated by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Arctic Office, which is hosted by the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge. Further scientific activity in the Arctic is diffused throughout the UK university sector.

The UK Parliament has also shown an increasing interest in better understanding the opportunities and challenges emerging in the Arctic. In 2012, the Environmental Audit Committee (a House of Commons Select Committee) investigated what more the UK could do to promote responsible development in the region (and updated/re-discussed in 2018). This was followed in 2014 by an inquiry by the House of Lords Ad Hoc Select Committee on the Arctic, which considered whether the UK was pursuing its interests in an effective way. One of the main outcomes of this inquiry was to reignite the debate about whether the UK should have an Arctic ambassador, although the government continues to resist such a move. In 2015, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Polar Regions was launched to improve awareness and understanding of Arctic issues among UK parliamentarians. In 2018, the House of Commons Defence Committee also published an inquiry on UK Arctic defence capabilities, which contributed to the decision by the Ministry of Defence to prepare a UK Arctic Defence Strategy.

In summer 2018 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom published a new policy document towards the Arctic, titled Beyond the Ice: UK policy towards the Arctic. The document is founded on concepts of respecting the rights and interests of Arctic peoples and states while showing leadership in cooperative science. More so than the 2013 document, the new policy positions the UK’s Arctic activities in relation to its Global Britain approach to foreign affairs, where world-leading science, business investment, environmental protection, and international cooperation will ensure the UK will remain an active player in world affairs post-Brexit. The largest change from the 2013 policy is the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, effective January 31, 2020. While the final terms of the UK’s future relationship with the EU will be negotiated throughout 2020, much uncertainty remains over how Brexit will affect Arctic-UK relations. The biggest projected impact will be a more limited role in fisheries negotiations for the Central Arctic Ocean and an exodus of European scientists based in the UK.

In September 2018, the UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson announced a new Defence Arctic Strategy, acknowledging an increase in military activity in the region and outlining UK military commitments for the High North. As part of the strategy, the Royal Marines committed to a ten-year cold weather training programme with its Norwegian counterparts. The strategy also commits the UK to introduce new anti-submarine aircraft to be based out of RAF Lossiemouth in northeast Scotland in 2020. The strategy, called UK’s Defence Contribution in the High North, was published in March 2022.

In the wake of Brexit, Scotland is using the Arctic as a means of reinventing its foreign policy to differentiate itself from the UK. In Fall 2017, the Scottish Government hosted the Arctic Circle Scotland forum in Edinburgh to identify policy links between Scotland and the far north. In September 2019, Scotland launched its first ever Arctic policy framework, named “Arctic Connections.” The framework sets out goals for Scotland across the Arctic and encourages stakeholders to engage with international counterparts to address challenges facing the area. Arctic Connections prioritizes environmental and climate change action as well as the strengthening of trade and investment in areas such as renewable energy. The framework also aims to promote Scotland as a marine transport and logistics hub for the High North.

The UK is an observer to the Arctic Council. In addition, the UK is a member of multiple international organisations and regimes involved in Arctic governance including the IMO (the only major UN agency based in London), NEAFC, OSPAR Commission, Convention on Biological Diversity, CITES, CMS, LRTAP, Stockholm Conventions on POPs, UNFCCC, and many more.