Inuit Ataqatigiit chief says mining complicated at Kvanefjeld ‘gained’t occur’ after landmark election win.
Greenland’s left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit party pledged its opposition to a big rare-earth mining project on Wednesday after profitable a parliamentary election for under the second time in additional than 4 many years.
Its snug victory solid doubt on the mining complicated at Kvanefjeld within the south of the Arctic island and despatched a powerful sign to worldwide mining firms looking for to exploit Greenland’s huge untapped mineral sources.
Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) gained 37 % of votes in Tuesday’s snap election, in contrast with 26 % within the final election, overtaking the governing social democratic Siumut party, which secured 29 % of votes, in accordance to official outcomes.
The professional-mining Siumut party has been in energy for more often than not since Greenland gained residence rule from Denmark in 1979.
Although not opposed outright to mining, IA has a powerful environmental focus. It has campaigned to halt the Kvanefjeld project, which incorporates uranium, as well as to uncommon earths together with neodymium – which is utilized in wind generators, electrical autos and fight plane.
“The individuals have spoken,” IA chief Mute Egede, 34, informed broadcaster DR when requested about Kvanefjeld. “It gained’t occur.”
Mikaa Mered, lecturer on Arctic affairs at HEC enterprise faculty in Paris, mentioned of the result: “This can, no doubt, hamper mining improvement in Greenland.”
Whereas most Greenlanders see mining as an essential path in the direction of independence, the Kvanefjeld mine has been a competition level for years, sowing deep divisions within the authorities and inhabitants over environmental issues.
“It’s not that Greenlanders don’t need mining, however they don’t need soiled mining,” Mered mentioned, referring to uranium and rare-earth initiatives. “Greenlanders are sending a powerful message that for them it’s not price sacrificing the surroundings to obtain independence and financial improvement.”
Challenges forward
The island of 56,000 individuals, which former United States President Donald Trump provided to purchase in 2019, is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark however has broad autonomy.
Egede, who was minister for pure sources in a coalition authorities from 2016 to 2018, can be first to strive to type a brand new authorities. A possible authorities ally could possibly be Naleraq, an independence party that additionally opposes the Kvanefjeld project.
Help from Prime Minister Kim Kielsen and his governing Siumut party helped licence-holder Greenland Minerals achieve preliminary approval for the project final yr, paving the best way for a public listening to.
The Australian agency has already spent greater than $100m making ready the mine and has confirmed processing know-how by its Chinese language companion Shenghe Assets.
Greenland Minerals Chief Govt John Mair mentioned the general public listening to has “lacked the traditional due course of” due to the early election.
“This sadly created a void that was full of a wave of misinformation,” he informed Reuters on Wednesday.
He declined to touch upon the election end result till a brand new authorities had been shaped.
“The problem for IA can be to clarify to the world that Greenland remains to be open for enterprise and nonetheless a lovely mining jurisdiction,” mentioned Dwayne Menezes, head of London-based think-tank Polar Analysis and Coverage Initiative.