July 27, 2022
Greenland's Green Transition: How the Politics of Comparison Inform Arctic Futures
An Institute of Arctic Studies Webinar
Embedded Files
Overview
Overview
In 2021, the Government of Greenland made an active shift in the political discourse regarding Greenland’s development and is now pursuing a green transition. Greenland sees itself as a “state in formation”, and looks to other nation-states for inspiration. The question is: to whom, to what, does Greenland compare itself in the process of finding a fitting model for future green development? This discussion will further explore two additional topics: first, Greenland’s ambition to be an exporter of hydropower and mining rare earth minerals, which would support the technology for the green transition; and secondly, the political conversation about joining the Paris agreement.
Dr. Lill Rastad Bjørst
Dr. Lill Rastad Bjørst
2022-2023 Fulbright Arctic Initiative III Scholar
Associate Professor, Department of Culture and Learning, Aalborg University
Dr. Lill Rastad Bjørst is an Associate Professor in Arctic Studies with Aalborg University and the 2022 Fulbright Arctic Initiative III Visiting Researcher with the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth. For over 15 years, she has been researching climate change in Greenland as a scholar within the human and social sciences. At Aalborg, she also serves as the Head of Research for the Centre of Innovation and Research in Culture and Living in the Arctic (CIRCLA), a member of the Aalborg Arctic Coordination Board, and on the Steering Committee of IKL Green Transition. Her work is co-funded by grants from the Independent Research Fund Denmark and the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.
Selected Quotes
Selected Quotes
“This study uses the politics of comparison as an analytical lens to understand Greenland’s role and priorities in the green transition, and to ask: to whom or what does Greenland compare itself in the process of finding a fitting model for future green transition?”
“Greenland has a big wish to create new infrastructure and create what they call Sustainability for Greenland to create a new sector of growth.”
“Sometimes, green transitions can offer a promise, but one that cannot be articulated directly, and therefore it’s not necessarily binding or committing. So that opened the window, or opened the door, for mining companies to talk about themselves as if green."
“The green transition, for Greenland, can be a new way of talking about environmental problems, where environmental management and transformation is seen as a positive-sum game and not as a showstopper.”
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