Since 2019, the United States, along with other superpower nations have expressed its interest in laying claim to Greenland, with President Trump saying he is “seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.”
Greenland is a key geopolitical interest to multiple leaders due to the lack of international protection and the resources hidden beneath its surface. Greenland, unlike Antarctica, is not protected by an international treaty. Some of the minerals found in Greenland include graphite, lithium, zinc, and rare-earth minerals — all of which are critical to developing clean energy technologies, a rapidly growing sector. If obtained, these vital minerals help innovations in the clean energy industry, offering a significant competitive advantage over entities that do not have access to the components.
For most of its history, the minerals have been difficult to mine because of the ice covering. Over the past 29 years, however, Greenland has been rapidly losing its ice sheet, expediting access to the minerals. As the ice sheet is predicted to continue decreasing, access to the minerals also becomes much easier, an essential motivator to acquire the entire country. That said, melting ice leads to greater ecological concerns like rising sea levels. Since 1993, global sea levels have risen four inches and will continue to rise. Higher sea levels endanger coastal communities, lead to severe flooding during storms and high tides, and disrupt oceanic circulation patterns, affecting weather patterns throughout the hemispheres. The ocean starts absorbing more of the sun’s energy when ice sheets melt, warming up the ocean and exacerbating the issue.
Many countries see Greenland’s ecological damage as an opportunity to create new trade routes. The route, coined the “Polar Silk Road” by China, is a shipping corridor that passes through Russia’s northern coast and is only open for a few months of the year. The path significantly reduces the distance between Europe and Asia while also reducing dependence on traditional and politically vulnerable shipping paths like the Suez Canal. Increased shipping through this area, though, poses large ecological risks as well. Ships emit fuel containing black carbon, which accelerates global warming.
Extraction of minerals and Greenland’s vast oil resources, as it stands, seems somewhat implausible. The logistics involved in truly mining and obtaining the resources follow difficult logistics, with Lukas Slothuus, a researcher at the University of Sussex, saying, “there is almost no road infrastructure in Greenland and limited deep-water ports for large tankers and container ships,” complicating exporting minerals.
Though Greenland has gained media attention in recent years, it has always been unique for scientific research. The largely Inuit population has been living around the edge of the icy land for a millennium. This has lent itself to physical isolation and genomic changes unseen elsewhere. The population has experienced a population bottleneck, resulting in extremely unique genetic variants.
Greenland sits at the intersection of scientific research, geopolitical interests, and the climate crisis. While many world powers and companies frame Greenland as a commodity to be acquired, there are significant ecological concerns to be aware of.
