Greenland’s left-wing environmentalist party, Inuit Ataqatigiit, won the general election on Tuesday after backing China’s development of a rare earthquake mine.
The party, which was in opposition, won 37 percent of the vote over the years-long incumbent, the center-left Siumut party. Environmentalists will have to negotiate a coalition to form a government, but observers say their election in Greenland, a semi-autonomous region of Denmark, sits on a rich vein of untapped uranium and rare earth minerals, the voters on the impact of mining. .
“The people spoke”, Múte B. Egede, the leader of Inuit Ataqatigiit, told the Danish broadcaster DR, adding that the voters had made their point clear and that the mining project in Kvanefjeld in the south of the country would be stopped .
Greenland Minerals, an Australian company behind the project, said the mine had the potential to become the most important Western world producer of rare earths, adding that it would create uranium as a by-product. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The supply of rare earths, an important part of the high-tech global supply chain and used for the manufacture of everything from cell phones to rechargeable batteries, is currently dominated by China. Shenghe Resources, a Chinese rare earth company, owns 11 percent of Greenland Minerals.
The opposition to the Greenland mine, which supported the current Siumut party, played a primary role in its defeat, its leader, Erik Jensen, admitted in an interview with the Danish station TV2.
The mining project has been in development for years, with the government approving the drill for research but not issuing the final approval for the mine.
Among Greenlanders, opposition to the mine has increased due to the possible exposure of a unique, fragile area to ‘radioactive contamination and toxic waste’, says Dwayne Menezes, director of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative, a London think tank. “What they are opposed to is dirty mining.”
The result of the election sent a clear message, said Mr. Menezes added: Mining companies that want access to Greenland’s deposits will have to meet strict environmental standards and must provide Greenlanders with a ‘viable alternative’.
In Greenland, whose economy is heavily dependent on disbursements from Denmark, tensions over the mine have been directed at potential economic blessings, including hundreds of jobs on an island of about 57,000 people, against the environmental cost of doing business.
But the vote also highlighted the growing geopolitical importance of the Arctic region on a warming planet as the Arctic Ocean becomes more navigable and the melting ice reveals newly accessible sources, including the rare earth that plays an important role in the production of many alternative energy sources. .
“Globally, we will need to address this tension between indigenous communities and the materials we will most need for a climate stress planet,” said Aimee Boulanger, executive director of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance. , a non-profit organization.
Given China’s dominance over global production and supply of a rare nature, Mr. Menezes said Western countries should look for ways to promote their partnerships with Greenland to keep it in ‘their sphere of influence’.
Two years ago, Greenland’s lucrative resources and growing strategic importance led President Donald J. Trump to consider the purchase of the island. However, the Greenland government has made it clear that it is not for sale.
“We are open for business, not for sale,” said the Foreign Ministry. posted on Twitter at that point.