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Rasmussen: Global warming means new role for NATO in Arctic

REYKJAVIK – Agence France-Presse | 8/21/2009 12:00:00 AM |

NATO needs to do more to adapt to climate change, the alliance's secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen says.

NATO needs to do more to adapt to climate change, the alliance's secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday during an official visit to the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik

"We have to adapt NATO to the new security environment and obviously climate change has an impact on overall security," he told reporters.

"The fact that the ice melting will open a new polar sea route, and make the mineral resources in this part of the world more accessible will of course have an impact on the overall security situation (in the region) and we should address that," Rasmussen said.

With global warming opening access to the pole, the five Arctic border states - Russia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and the United States - have been caught in a diplomatic tug-of-war over the region, which is believed to have immense undersea oil and gas reserves.