Whatever happens with the development of alternative fuels, and however much we economise on using energy, the world will be reliant on oil, gas and coal for decades. The challenge of developing conventional energy sources in an environmentally sustainable way is one of the most critical we face. We therefore need to create an institution imbued with sovereign powers to develop the massive fuel sources in the Arctic Circle. It would be a far-reaching step, but the stakes warrant a special attempt to take it.

Last month the US Geological Survey released the results of a four-year study showing that the Arctic Circle contains sufficient energy supplies to have a big impact on supply: 90bn barrels of oil, 1669 trillion cu ft of natural gas and 44bn barrels of natural gas liquids. That represents 13 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil – the “largest unexplored prospective area for petroleum on earth”, according to the USGS. It equals 30 per cent of the world’s undiscovered gas, or nearly two-thirds of the proven gas reserves of the Middle East; or 20 per cent of the world’s undiscovered liquid hydrocarbons.