Canada to stake claim of sovereignty on North Pole

The U.N. submissions do not lead to a binding decision, but lay the groundwork for future country-to-country negotiations over competing territorial claims in the Arctic that could take years to resolve. Just checking the science on a claim likely will take five years, said Rob Huebert, an Arctic expert at the University of Calgary.

Byers said there isn't any particular rush for Canada to stake its claim for the North Pole, pointing out that such claims cover some of the most remote and harshest places on the planet, and commercial exploitation of resources is a long way off.

“We're talking about the center of a large, inhospitable ocean that is in total darkness for three months each year, thousands of miles from any port,” he said.

“The water in the North Pole is 12,000 feet (3,650 meters) deep and will always be covered by sea ice in the winter. It's not a place where anyone is going to be drilling for oil and gas.

“So it's not about economic stakes, it's about domestic politics.”