A green and pleasant land?
Greenland’s prime minister does not want his country to become a ‘living museum’ and is keen to tap into its vast natural wealth.
As the glaciers begin to melt, Greenland has become an increasingly common destination for the world’s green-minded politicians. “Probably all the environment ministers of the world have been,” says Greenland’s Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist, with pardonable exaggeration.
Greenland is a photo opportunity, a scientific laboratory and potentially an economic goldmine. The vast land mass, four times the size of France, is rich in iron ore, lead, zinc, diamonds, platinum, coal and possibly oil and gas, but short of people, being the least densely populated country in the world.
Kleist took power in June as the country gained more autonomy from Denmark. Now he hopes to tap into this natural wealth, including fossil fuels.
“We will see an ever-increasing demand for aluminium, steel, gold, oil and gas of course,” he said in an interview with European Voice. “We don’t have any other options to develop our economy…we are forced into gas and minerals.”
The prime minister does not want the EU – which Greenland left in 1985 – to treat the country as an “exotic outpost”, frozen in time. “We need to live. The rest of the world cannot keep Greenland as a living museum and tell us that we cannot develop our economy.”
He recognises that there is a “dilemma” between the threat that climate change poses to the country and the government’s desire for economic growth built on fossil fuels. Nevertheless, he rejects the charge of a contradiction. Greenland needs both fossil fuels and hydro-power for its economic future, he says.
“If you are arguing that oil and gas should go, then why not in Norway, why doesn’t Denmark do it, or Saudi Arabia?” The emissions of Greenland’s 57,000 people who live on fishing and hunting are minuscule in comparison, he points out.
“We don’t have a choice,” he continues. “The Danish state wants to cut our subsidy and the market is cutting our products.”
Fact File
Curriculum Vitae
1958: Born, Qullissat1985-88: Deputy director of the Home Rule Department of Education
1988-91: Rector of the Greenlandic School of Journalism
1996-99: Director of the Home Rule Foreign Office
2001-07: Member of the Danish parliament
2007: Elected leader of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party
2009-: Prime minister of Greenland
Denmark gives its former colony a subsidy that makes up 30% of its national income. But Denmark plans to cut the subsidy over time in the hope that natural-resource revenues will take its place. An added complication is that Greenland’s other sources of income are also in decline, with demand for seal skins and shrimps in a slump.
Seal hunting
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Kleist is deeply unhappy about the EU’s decision to ban the import of sealskin products. The ‘Inuit exemption’, which was intended to allow seal-hunting by native Arctic people to continue, has not helped Greenland, he says.
“Not one single seal fur has been sold for the EU market in the last few years.”
His government has spent 50 million Danish Kroner (€6.72m) buying up sealskins and storing them in warehouses. Greenland is closely watching Canada’s challenge at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to the EU ban.
Another point of contention is the EU’s decision to stop preferential trade terms for Greenland’s shrimp, which has accounted for around half the value of its exports.
These tariffs were “not prohibited” under WTO rules, he insists, and his government continues to protest to the European Commission.
Seals and shrimp are evidence of how the EU “interferes” in Greenland’s affairs with little understanding of the Arctic lifestyle, he thinks. So Greenlanders are paying attention as the EU puts together an Arctic strategy. Last year the Commission published a policy paper, which urged the EU not to get left behind in the race for natural resources.
“We welcome the EU position to have a bigger interest in the Arctic, but we would like to offer guidance on how to approach a new Arctic policy,” he says.
Kleist, a left-winger who leads the Inuit Atagatigiit party, wants EU policymakers to think about the people who live in the Arctic. “We have been trying to draw attention back to the people of the Arctic areas,” he says.
The focus on bread-and-butter politics has been a theme of his premiership. He came to power vowing to tackle Greenland’s social problems, its alcoholism, poor educational standards and high suicide rate. Complete independence from Denmark remains his ultimate goal, but social problems are a more pressing priority: “If we are not able to fight social problems, we cannot hope for independence,” he says.
The coming years will be a test for the potential state. In June, Greenland moved to self-rule, getting new powers on economic policy as well as immigration, food and veterinary policy. Denmark retains control over defence and foreign policy, for now.
If Greenland were independent, would it seek to re-join the EU? “I don’t know”, he replies. “I think the European Union is a good union for European countries. But Greenland is not a European country.”