In the High Arctic, a Manhattan-size piece of land with geopolitical implications has hit the market for €300 million ($323 million), APA reports citing Bloomberg.
The sale comes as the Arctic experienced its warmest summer in 2023, and the Svalbard region has had less sea ice, more rain and higher temperatures because of climate change. The sea-ice loss is a boon to Russia, which has been gaining access to additional shipping routes and energy reserves as the territory opens up.
“This is the only possibility for a buyer to get a position in the High Arctic and establish a strategic foothold,” says Per Kyllingstad, a lawyer representing the sellers, speaking exclusively to Bloomberg News via Zoom from Oslo. He says it’s the last privately held plot in the nine-island Norwegian archipelago.