NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer suggested on Thursday that the alliance and its strategic rival Russia could mount joint search and rescue exercises in the Arctic region.
De Hoop Scheffer told a conference in Iceland global warming and the melting polar ice cap could open up new commercially viable sea routes and ease access to energy deposits in the Arctic, which he said has seen increasing military activity.
This raised the question as to whether NATO should consider increasing its focus on the region, he said, adding that it was necessary to build confidence and trust among the five Arctic states -- four of which are NATO members and the other Russia.
"The alliance and Russia have already acquired shared experiences in search and rescue, as well as in disaster management," De Hoop Scheffer said.
"These experiences could usefully be built upon, and expanded, to address common challenges in the High North."
He added that such cooperation could be discussed in the NATO-Russia Council, an ambassador-level dialogue forum, whose activities were halted by NATO last year in protest against Russia's intervention in Georgia.
The body met this week informally, and formal sessions could resume after a meeting next week between De Hoop Scheffer and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.
NATO members with Arctic Sea coastlines are Canada, the United States, Norway and Denmark via Greenland.
The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that about 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its undiscovered gas lie under the Arctic seabed.
Analysts say the melting of sea ice will not only ease exploitation but open new fishing areas and navigation routes, considerably shortening sea trips from Europe to the Pacific.
Moscow has claimed jurisdiction over most of the Arctic and last year a Russian mini-submarine dived to the seabed and symbolically planted a Russian flag to claim it.
However at a meeting in Greenland in May Russia and the other countries with Arctic coastlines agreed the United Nations would decide how to settle territorial claims in the region.