The Greenland Parliament yesterday unanimously approved a proposal requiring the government to draft a law prohibiting mining exploration and deep-sea mining until the end of 2029.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Denmark welcomed the decision as “an important step in the right direction,” noting that “scientific knowledge about the potential consequences of deep-sea mining for the marine environment remains limited.”
The inhabitants of this autonomous territory fear the consequences that deep-sea mining could have on the environment. Fishing is the pillar of Greenland’s economy, while hunting plays a crucial role in the subsistence of many local communities.
But the untapped minerals that would lie beneath the land and on the seabed of the vast Arctic island — likely to play a crucial role in many technological and defense industries — are also seen as a possible springboard to the island’s independence, desired by a majority of its 57,000 inhabitants.
Thanks to the approved proposal, the government can extend the moratorium in two-year periods.
“With this decision, Greenland has the opportunity to send a strong signal: protecting the ocean, nature, and our livelihoods must be taken seriously when we are confronted with new forms of exploitation of marine resources,” noted the WWF.
Thursday’s vote came the day after statements by Donald Trump, who said that oil, gas, and mineral exploration was about to begin in Greenland, without mentioning the high seas.
Greenland suspended the issuing of new oil and gas exploration licenses in 2021.
No industrial-scale drilling for oil or gas has been carried out in this territory.
