Politics

A British adventurer recently found herself at the heart of a controversy after claiming to be the first woman to cross Baffin Island solo. Her claims prompted a backlash from Inuit in a backdrop of cultural reappropriation.

Greenland's Political Marriage: Navigating the Harbor of Governance

After the election in Greenland, it is unclear with whom the big winner, the Demokratiit wants to sail into the safe harbour of a stable political marriage.

The Demokraatit party must forge alliances

At a press conference held at the International Press Centre, Rasmus Leander Nielsen, professor at the University of Greenland, discusses the potential coalitions that Demokraatit could form.

A right turn for Greenland

The Demokraatit party wins Greenland's March 11 elections. A turnaround in the island's politics.

Greenland’s online spaces are at risk - and the stakes have never been higher

Just two months ago, a report concluded that Greenlandic Facebook feeds were free of foreign disinformation. Now, after the country has been the center of the world’s attention, one of the authors of the report is not confident that this conclusion would hold true today.

The Polar Retrospective - Russia-US Arctic oil talks, a withdrawn documentary, 'glacial fracking', and Greenlanders' genes

Polar Journal AG Team

This week we look at the latest statement of Russian official Kirill Dmitriev, a now withdrawn documentary, glacial fracking, and a new study on Greenlandic genes.

Greenland's prime minister Múte B. Egede during his New Year's Speech on January 1st. Photo: Naalakkersuisut

Three topics that will decide Greenland’s upcoming election

On March 11th, Greenland will hold a parliamentary election with much more international attention than usual. Polar Journal AG looks at three topics that form divisions among the campaigning politicians.

The Polar Retrospective - A portal to the ice, three new vessels, and the pursuit of Antarctic bird flu

Polar Journal AG Team

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world's polar regions. From last week we chose: a new logistics portal, a Chilean hunt for bird flu, and an increase in Arctic military spending.

Denali, the ever-changing name mountain

It is the highest peak in the United States and is changing its name again. Mount Denali is back in the spotlight following a presidential executive order renaming it Mount McKinley. Explanation.

The Polar Retrospective - Alaskan drilling, Greenlandic protests, and a year of glacial preservation

Polar Journal AG Team

From the week where Donald Trump became president we look at his drilling ambitions in Alaska, continued protests in Greenland, and a year dedicated to glaciers.

Climate change is fuelling Trump’s desire to tap into Canada’s water and Arctic resources

Rising temperatures, a melting Arctic and increasing global water and resource scarcity are behind United States President Donald Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st American state.

Terkel Husum Isaksen were not impressed with what he percieved as threats from the incumbent American president. Photo: DR

The quiet voices lost in Greenland’s Trump saga

In the media storm surrounding the Trump interest in Greenland, many opinions have been extreme. This article gathers a few nuanced takes from locals.

Geopolitical turmoil, anti-institutional demagoguery and krill fishing

Under the weight of the latest unsuccessful disagreements, notably due to geopolitical instability, krill fishing could be less sustainable this year. Sea Shepherd is back on the front line. At the risk of destabilizing the institutions that guarantee a precautionary fishery? An opinion.

Report on the "Fishing in the Polar and Southern Regions" round-table discussion

Last week in France, a round-table discussion on polar fisheries offered an interesting counterpoint between the Arctic and Antarctic, focusing on the consequences of geopolitical instability on the rational, clean and sustainable use of the ocean's living resources.

The pub Daddy's is known locally in Nuuk as a place where Danish people often go. But while Trump Jr. was there that did not seem to be the case. Photo: Donald Trump Jr. on X

Donald Trump wants Greenland again. Could he actually succeed?

The Trump plan is clear: Greenland should become part of the US. But could it actually happen?

Across the world, activists were calling for the release of Paul Watson from jail in Greenland. This photo was taken in Paris, France, on November 24th, 2024. Last week, the protester got their wish. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The Polar Retrospective - A free Watson, birds perishing, a giant iceberg moving and the successor of Polarstern

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world's polar regions. This week, we tell you about the release of activist Paul Watson, a heatwave that killed million of common murres, the drift of giant iceberg A23a and the upcoming arrival of Polarstern II.

Signe Ravn-Højgaard represents the Think Tank for Digital Infrastruture. She wrote her Ph.d. at the Department of Journalism at Ilisimatursafik, the University of Greenland. Photo: The Think Tank for Digital Infrastructure

As AI makes Arctic languages accessible, fears of disinformation rise

The Greenlandic public debate used to be immune to foreign influence but in recent months it has become available to hostile foreign actors.

Protests outside the Inatsisartut, the Greenlandic parliament, on November 9th. The sign says 'Vi er her for Zammi', - 'We are here for Zammi'. Zammi is the daughter of the Greenlandic woman Keira Alexandra Kronvold who recently had her Zammi removed in a case from Denmark. Photo: Pernille Benjaminsen

People of Greenland are protesting the forced removal of their children

In cases of forced removals of children, Danish authorities do not sufficiently consider how culturally different the people of Greenland are.

Underwater curtains: a risk for the Antarctic Treaty?

Underwater curtains could be installed in Antarctica, but this technique for preserving glaciers is controversial. Two researchers, a lawyer and a political scientist, have explored the consequences of their deployment on the functioning of the Antarctic Treaty.

Trump's new term bodes ill for the Arctic region

Donald Trump's re-election to the presidency of the United States and the latest announcements concerning the formation of the government may well have toxic effect on the Arctic equilibrium, in terms of both security and climate. Timo Koivurova, a Finnish expert on Arctic affairs, shares his analysis.

Norway apologizes to the Sami people

On November 12, the Norwegian Parliament apologized to the Sami and the country's Indigenous populations for the policy of forced assimilation and its consequences, which are still very much with us today.

Tropical climatic phenomenon affects Antarctic fishery

A recent study published in Nature Scientific Reports shows that El Niño and La Niña influence the recruitment capacity of Antarctic toothfish in the Ross Sea, a succulent fish sold at a good price. These results will no doubt be discussed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

Cross inspection of Casey and Dumont d'Urville research stations

Last summer, the scientific stations operating on the east coast of Antarctica, both French and Australian, passed the cross inspection test, an Antarctic Treaty transparency exercise.

"These companies are destroying the environment and harming the local people in Chukotka"

The Beringovsky mine has been operated since 2016 by an Australian company, which withdrew from the project this summer. The company avoided Western sanctions thanks to a complex set-up of Cyprian and Russian companies, but none of this would have been revealed had the mine not been the scene of an environmental and human disaster. Ilya Shumannov, CEO of Arctida, conducted an extensive investigation. He told us all about it.

The Polar Retrospective – ACA 2024 between business as usual and new tone

This year's largest Arctic gathering was a balancing act between the business as usual and a more militarized tone, but also underlines the importance of dialogue.

Arctic basic education - a self-serving gift

Everyone wants a piece of Greenland. To avoid losing its access to the Arctic, Denmark has to keep digging deep into its pockets. Its latest expenditure is for military training for young Greenlanders.

A time of great opportunity for reconfiguring the governance of the Arctic

In this guest article, Doaa Abdel-Motaal, Visiting Professor of Polar Studies at Sciences Po, Paris, argues that the time is right to reduce tension in the Arctic and that in the current geopolitical situation de-escalation is possible.

A painted history of the Northern Sea Route, photographed in Tiksi in 2019. Photo: Olga Povoroznyuk

In shrinking Soviet towns, Northern Sea Route promise is keeping hope alive

A research project at the University of Vienna is attempting an, at the moment, difficult task: to conduct anthropological research on the Russian Arctic.

The dam that Arctic Water Bank plans to build is still years away. This photo of a small hydropower dam at another location in South Greenland. Photo: Claus Andersen-Aagaard, creative commons

Greenland start-up to build dam and export glacial water across the world

The Government of Greenland sees the permission to exploit a river in South Greenland as part of a larger strategy to exploit its water and ice resources.

The Polar Retrospective - Alaska, arctic region of contrasts

In the opinion of the editor-in-chief, the largest and northernmost state of the USA is fascinating in its diversity, but it also shows some contrasts in the relationship between the US and the Arctic.

GEUS, the institution behind the recent landslide, is an independent research organisation but its offices in Nuuk are housed in this building in the center, along with the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, and next to the University of Greenland. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Greenland ministers criticize researchers for not telling them about landslide study

The criticism highlights the Government of Greenland’s irritation about a lack of communication from researchers coming in from abroad.

"An evolution of the System towards the establishment of safeguards for greater equity?"

The workings of the Antarctic Treaty system have tended to seize up around environmental issues in recent years. But the causes of disagreements between the Consultative Parties - which cannot easily reach consensus - may lie elsewhere, outside the Treaty's jurisdiction, as analyzed by Anaïs Rémont, a doctoral student in geopolitics and international law.

"It's major, because it brings the polar subject closer to the glacial"

France's ambassador for the poles and oceans, Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, talks about the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences proclaimed by the UN in mid-August and the progress of France's Polar Strategy.

Expedition cruise ship organization visited Ilulissat to ease increasing tensions

Arctic cruise ship operators have faced headwinds in Greenland this summer, but AECO, an organization representing their interests, hopes that a three-day visit last week will be the start of a needed dialogue.

The harbor seal is one of the seals benefitting from the EU ban on seal products. The Greenland Institute of Natural resources estimated there to be around 640,000 individuals worldwide in 2009. It lives mostly in subarctic waters and is not abundant in Greenland. Photo: Charles J. Sharp, Wikimedia Commons

EU ban on seal products sparks heated reactions - 14,000 replies to public hearing

Artists and hunters in Arctic Canada hope the EU will lift the ban that has been in place since 2009.

"It's a perfect time to come up with an alternative framework for the Antarctic"

Antarctic Rights is an international initiative that advocates the extension of rights to all living beings in order to improve the functioning of the Antarctic Treaty and environmental protection. Two experts provide background to the initiative and explain its implications. Interview.

The Polar Retrospective – Turning a walrus into hope for the US Coast Guard

The US Coast Guard plans to acquire the “Aiviq” for its Arctic missions due to the problems of the icebreaker program whose future could also depend on the upcoming elections.

The Geneva Centre for Security Policy and its High North Talks

The current geopolitical situation has led to a deadlock in the Arctic with seemingly no basis for dialogues. However, a Geneva-based organization offers a platform and a glimpse of hope to address pressing Arctic issues.

The Polar Retrospective - The heat is on in polar regions

Both Greenland and the middle of Antarctica are currently experiencing a hot climate, although the reasons and type of climate are different.

Podcast Radio Arctic - Territorial claims and treaties in polar regions

The Arctic and the polar regions in general are at the center of discussions about territorial claims and demarcating borders, and how they affect research, business, and politics. In this new podcast, Radio Arctic explores these implications with the help of experts.

Chile has strengthened the application of Antarctic law

Over the past year, Chile has taken steps to enforce its Antarctic Law, adopted in 2020, by including behaviors prohibited in Antarctica in the list of acts subject to sanctions, defined in a 2023 law on economic crimes. Interview with Catalina Sepúlveda, Antarctic law expert.

Major powers tug of war on the US's Arctic doorstep

The Bering Strait used to be a bridge between continents, while today it serves as a place of tug-of-war between the USA, Russia and China.

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson arrested in Nuuk

It was an eventful weekend in Greenland's capital, following the arrest of an international activist firmly opposed to whaling.

The Polar Retrospective - Negative and positive energy on Svalbard

Positive energy towards small expedition vessels and negative energy towards the local power company made the headlines in Longyearbyen last week.

The Polar Retrospective - South Greenland and the polar bears

Stalemate between South Greenland's Kujalleq municipality and Greenland's government over how to deal with polar bears in South Greenland.

Prof. Airini, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed, and University of Saskatchewan president Peter Stoicheff during a ceremonial signing of an agreement to secure verification of Inuit students at the university. Photo: University of Saskatchewan

Canadian university implement first-of-its-kind anti-fraud system to prevent Inuit pretenders

The system was introduced after a woman was sentenced three years in prison for identity fraud in Nunavut.

Heavy fuel oil emits a dark black smoke when combusted; a smoke that is particularly bad for polar environments. Photo: Kåre Press-Kristensen, Green Global Future

Heavy fuel oil banned in the Arctic after years of struggle from NGOs

The tar-like fuel is particularly dangerous in remote polar regions, and on July 1st it was officially banned.

Courtesy exercises on the edge of the Arctic pack ice

The French, Danish and Icelandic navies performed search and rescue maneuvers at sea with the most powerful icebreaker in the NATO zone, a tourist liner flying the flag of the French islands of Wallis and Futuna.

Towards a regulation of Antarctic tourism

The growth of tourism in Antarctica is not without concern for the Treaty's Consultative Parties. In a press release issued at the end of the Kochi meetings, its Secretariat announced its intention to provide a better framework for this activity. But views still differ widely.

The Polar Retrospective - Arctic tourism like hiking in the polar night

Tourism in Arctic regions is increasingly at the center of a debate between politics, science and industry, and searching for solutions seems like a hike in the polar night.

Culture

"Honouring Our Future" at the NONAM

After Canada and Great Britain, the exhibition of regalia worn by young Indigenous graduates from the Yukon opens this weekend at NONAM. An opportunity to discover, through this symbolic garment, a little-known aspect of the culture of these communities in north-western Canada, between tradition and haute couture.

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Guest article

Tourism in Greenland: a fragile balance, an update after the elections