Denmark's science minister has dismissed moves by Russia and Canada to assert sovereignty over the Arctic, saying flag planting and political visits will not settle territorial claims in the potentially resource-rich region.

Helge Sander, Denmark's minister of science, technology and innovation, says flag planting won't settle territorial claims in the Arctic.
(John McConnico/Associated Press)

The scramble for the Arctic heated up two weeks ago when Russia sent two small submarines to plant a tiny flag under the North Pole.

Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper spent three days in the Canadian Arctic.

Denmark sent a team of scientists to the Arctic ice pack Sunday to seek evidence that the Lomonosov Ridge, a 1,995-kilometre underwater mountain range, is attached to Greenland, a Danish territory.

The Danish expedition, which had been planned for years, might, under a UN treaty, allow the Danes to stake a claim that could stretch all the way to the North Pole, although Canada and Russia also claim the ridge.

The U.S. and Norway also have claims in the vast Arctic region, where a U.S. study suggests as much as 25 per cent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas could be hidden.

Lowering flag 'simply a summer joke'

"No matter how many flags you plant or how many prime ministers you send, that doesn't become a valid parameter in the process," said Helge Sander, Denmark's minister of science, technology and innovation.

Russia and Canada "also have serious projects, but the lowering of the flag was simply a summer joke," Sander said.

Helge Sander called Russia's planting of a flag on the floor of the Arctic Ocean 'a summer joke.'
(Association of Russian Polar Explorers/Associated Press)

The race for sovereignty in the Arctic is intensifying partly because global warming is shrinking the polar ice, which could someday open up resource development and new shipping lanes.

The pressure is also on the Arctic countries because the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea gives them 10 years after ratification to prove their claims under the largely uncharted polar ice pack. All but the U.S. have ratified the treaty. Canada ratified the treaty in 2003.

Denmark, which also plans expeditions in 2009 and 2011, expects to deliver its claim in 2014, Sander said.