French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo, whose country is current president of the EU, said it was time for a "unified" research effort to find out what was happening in the northern polar regions.

"Research is not being coordinated," Borloo told reporters at a conference on environmental problems in the Arctic.

"It is unthinkable that there is scientific data out there that is not being shared," he said. "We are going to commit the necessary means to have this worldwide information network."

The conference, Sunday and Monday, gathered countries of the 27-nation EU, as well as Norway, Iceland, Monaco and representatives from Greenland, a Danish territory.

Non-European members of the Arctic Council -- Canada, Russia and the United States -- and representatives from China, India, Japan and South Korea which have scientific activities in the region were also invited.

Scientists say the Arctic provides an early indicator of climate change, signalled by the shrinkage of glaciers in Greenland and disappearing sea ice.

Countries on the Arctic rim are jockeying for claims to the Arctic's seabed, which is also believed to be rich in hydrocarbons and minerals, and to sealane rights that have opened up as result of ice loss.

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