There are different perspectives on it, but some, especially the European states, are framing the issue in terms of the environment. They're saying that we must manage the environment of the region, because there are some global effects. I don't know to what extent they are using it as an instrument, or whether it's a genuine concern for the environment.
Some other states could be interested in it. Spain is an example. It's surprising to find Spain as an observer at the Arctic Council, but the reason people in Spain are interested is because it's basically a fishing country. The fishery is an important part of their economy. If the fish stocks are moving to the north, which is possible in probably 40 or 50 years, they will have a strong interest in keeping it open and in reducing, as far as possible, the rights of the coastal states, to make sure that they have access to the resource.
You can say the same for some resources. Now it's a big “if” in the sense that we still don't know the map of the ocean floor. We're not sure exactly where the borders or the exclusive rights finish. Some states could have an interest in using the resources that are there. Other states, and my guess is that China is among them, could say that the Arctic will be a very interesting maritime sea route for maritime traffic. They want to keep it open to exploit it as a maritime sea lane. This could be another reason why they want to be there.
In general, we can say that there's a feeling, a sort of reaction, that they don't want to leave these five coastal states, or these eight Arctic states, with the exclusive right to manage the region. They want to be part of it, not because they have a specific interest there, but because they just want to keep their options open for the future.
This is why there's a broken line between some Arctic states—I say some Arctic states, because Denmark is not very active in that debate—such as Canada, Norway, and Russia on the one hand, and non-Arctic states, whose interests are clearly in conflict here. Some of them, such as Canada, want to keep more control over it, and non-Arctic states want to reduce that control.