The government wants the UK to be a global centre of expertise in opening up the Arctic to exploration by oil and gas companies, promoting London as a hub of business services for the burgeoning exploitation of the polar regions, according to a Foreign Office strategy published on Thursday.

The green light is likely to enrage conservationists, as a group of Greenpeace activists and journalists have been imprisoned in Russia after protesting against fossil fuel exploration in the region.

But ministers said the exploitation of the Arctic would have to be carried on in a responsible manner, minimising any threats to the "unique and fragile natural environment". The UK does not have any territory in the Arctic, and so no formal role in negotiating international policy within the Arctic Council, but is regarded as an interested party because some of its northernmost reach is close to the region.

In the government's Arctic framework, set out for the first time on Thursday, the Foreign Office pledged to "facilitate responsible business activity in the region by UK companies. The UK government will promote the UK as a centre of commercial expertise with direct relevance to many industries that are growing in the Arctic."

That is likely to mean the construction of oil and gas platforms, in which the UK has decades of expertise from North Sea oil exploration, as well as lucrative ancillary services such as financial and legal advice, and shipping services as melting ice opens the region to transport.

Arctic oil and gas exploration is in the spotlight as 28 Greenpeace activists and two journalists are being held by the Russian authorities on piracy charges. The crew, two of whom scaled a Russian oil platform from the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise on 18 September, said they were aiming to highlight what conservationists see as the peril of destroying one of the last pristine environments on Earth in the quest for fossil fuels. They could face 10 to 15 years in jail if convicted.

William Hague, the foreign secretary, has been negotiating with Russian ministers over the fate of the six British nationals involved.

Julia Marton-Lefevre, director general of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, told the Guardian: "Exploring the Arctic [for oil and gas] will have consequences that could be drastic. We are putting off the decisions we have to make about finding different [low-carbon] sources of energy. I think we should not be going into new areas like this."

The Foreign Office said the UK's diplomatic role would be secondary to the states, including Russia and the US, that have Arctic territories. "The UK will continue to support and respect the sovereign rights of the Arctic states to exercise jurisdiction over their territory; the peoples who live and work in the Arctic; and the unique and fragile natural environment. At the same time, [the strategy] outlines the UK's legitimate interests in the region, our priorities for practical action and our willingness to show leadership in appropriate areas."

Mark Simmonds, minister for the Arctic at the Foreign Office, said: "We are the Arctic's nearest neighbour and we have long-standing environmental and commercial interest there. Our climate, migrating birds, fishing and shipping industry, and energy needs are all reasons why what happens in the Arctic is of vital interest to us."

Concern for the environmental impacts of any exploitation of the Arctic's regions would be key, the government said. The framework document commits the government to "working towards an Arctic that is safe and secure; well governed in conjunction with indigenous peoples and in line with international law; where policies are developed on the basis of sound science with full regard to the environment; and where only responsible development takes place."

Areas where the UK can play a leading role, according to the framework, include taking leadership on global climate change, and engaging with UK-based scientists, industries and NGOs. This could imply a brokering role for the government in future dealings over environmental protests in the Arctic.

The document also commits the government to "promote UK Arctic science … and continue to fund top class climate research … to increase understanding of the changes in the Arctic and their impacts on the global system". The UK has for more than a century been a leader in exploration and scientific research in both the north and south polar regions, but last year the UK's pre-eminent polar science operation, the British Antarctic Survey, was close to crisis when its funding was threatened, before a partial reprieve.

The government would also support marine protected areas, where fishing would be restricted, in the Arctic, and push for "the highest environmental and drilling standards, and provide advice where this is sought".

Rod Downie, head of UK marine policy at WWF, said "The UK's new Arctic policy is a welcome step towards the conservation of one of our largest wilderness regions, and could in time serve as a model for other nations with emerging interests in the Arctic. But it also exposes the lack of coherence in Whitehall over climate and energy policy. Instead of looking to high risk Arctic oil and gas for energy 'security', the UK government, and governments and industry across the world, must heed the warning signs from the rapidly changing Arctic by acting with urgency and ambition to tackle climate change and transition to a renewable future."