In this review article we present Svalbard’s unique geological archive, revealing its climate history over the last 540 million years. We uncover how this Arctic region recorded key global events, including the End-Permian Mass Extinction, and climate crises like the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. The overall climate trend recorded in sedimentary successions in Svalbard is discussed in the context of global climate fluctuations and continuous drift of Svalbard from near equatorial to Arctic latitudes.

This study reviews the current state of knowledge regarding the Oligocene icehouse climate. We extend an existing marine climate proxy data compilation and present a new compilation and analysis of terrestrial plant assemblages to assess long-term climate trends and variability. Our data–climate model comparison reinforces the notion that models underestimate polar amplification of Oligocene climates, and we identify potential future research directions.