Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Borge Brende said climate change that is melting ice caps means more trade routes through the Arctic and could result in an economic boom for the Arctic countries, Market Watch reports.

“The Arctic Ocean is projected to be virtually ice-free in our decade, maybe even in a few decades from now,” Brende said Thursday in a speech at the American University School of Law.

The United States is expected to take chairmanship of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum between the U.S, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Sweden, Norway and Iceland, in 2015.