How Greenland is set to cash in on climate change
Danish arctic territory is ahead of the rest of the world in adapting to global warming, and now it wants to cash in on its head start to achieve its ultimate goal: independence
Asked if he is fearful about the impact of climate change, Tønnes “Kaka” Berthelsen’s response is typical of many Greenlanders. “We are more concerned about the Maldives,” he says, bluntly.
Greenland has lived with extreme environmental changes for a decade or more. Sea ice is forming two months later and melting one month earlier. Rivers fed by retreating glaciers are at record levels. And temperature records were smashed twice last year, with stunned meteorologists rechecking their measurements after 24 Celsius was recorded in the capital, Nuuk, in June.
Traditional hunters, having lost three months of sea-ice hunting grounds a year, are giving up their dog teams, but climate change is “no disaster”, according to Berthelsen, the deputy manager of Knapk, the Association of Fishers and Hunters in Greenland. The 56,000 inhabitants of the largest island in the world that is not a continent must adapt, fast.
In the sea, new fish species are arriving. On land, the melting ice is set to reveal a wealth of zinc, iron, uranium, gold and rare-earth elements that some predict will be the largest deposits outside China.
Greenland believes that climate change will bequeath the wealth to win the ultimate political prize: full independence from Denmark. The country gained self-rule in 2009 but its economy is still sustained by a 3.2 billion kroner (HK$3.5 billion) annual grant from its former colonial masters.