These days, many of us in Greenland are holding our breath.

The Arctic has once again moved to the center of global attention. Strategic competition, security concerns, and growing interest from powerful states increasingly shape today’s headlines. Our waters, our seabed, and our shipping routes are discussed far beyond our shores, often without our voices at the table. In this moment, it is more important than ever to be clear about what self-determination truly means for Greenland.

Self-determination is not only about who governs our territory, but how we choose to care for it. It is about deciding what kind of future we want, and what risks we are willing – or unwilling – to take.

The sea has always provided for us in Greenland. Today, it provides about 4,300 jobs in fishing and related industries and produces about 96% of our exports. The sea is our past, our present, and our future.

However, a new disruptive industry could put the health of the sea and the prosperity of the many Greenlanders who depend on it at risk. At the 2026 spring session, Inatsisartut is now considering a decision proposal (FM2026/141) that instructs Naalakkersuisut to draft legislation with a view to prohibiting deep-sea mining. This is a critical moment for Greenland to protect our economy and way of life.

Deep-sea mining is a highly experimental industry, and Greenland’s waters – which provide food, jobs, and support our culture – are not the place to do these experiments. Our seas are too valuable and too important to risk in this way. Commercial exploitation has yet to be carried out anywhere in the world, and the exploratory mining that has happened so far has been concentrated in the Pacific Ocean, where conditions are more favorable and the minerals easier to reach. By contrast, Greenland’s offshore minerals would be far more difficult to extract, and operations would take place in volatile Arctic conditions. The risks are clear; the benefits are not.

What we do know from scientific studies paints a grim picture. The machines permanently damage seabed structures, destroying habitats for marine life. Mining generates plumes of sediments containing heavy metals and toxic pollutants that

are eaten by plankton and fish – the basis of the food web. When fish, marine mammals, and seabirds eat the plankton, these toxic substances accumulate through the food web – including humans. None of this is compatible with the health and abundance of the fish, marine mammals, and seabirds that we rely on.

The deep-sea is not an empty frontier waiting to be exploited. It is one of the least understood ecosystems on Earth, playing a critical role in regulating climate, storing carbon, and sustaining marine life far beyond the Arctic. Scientists warn that damage from deep-sea mining would be irreversible on human timescales.

We have seen that the precautionary approach works. In 2018, Arctic and non-Arctic states agreed to prohibit commercial fishing in the Central Arctic Ocean before industrial fishing even began. That decision gave science time to lead policy, not chase it.

Deep sea mining moves in the opposite direction. It asks us to gamble with ecosystems we barely understand, at a moment when pressures from shipping, warming oceans, and melting ice are already intensifying. A high-stakes gamble behind which lies a weak business case that doesn’t add up.

Greenland has already supported a precautionary pause on deep-sea mining internationally, recognizing that science is insufficient and the risks too great. The current discussion offers an opportunity to extend that same precautionary leadership to our own national waters – and even strengthen it.

True self-determination means making clear choices about our future. It means choosing to protect our fisheries – and the healthy ecosystems they depend on – over a speculative and high-risk new industry. Our waters cannot sustain both. By supporting a Moratorium on deep-sea mining, Greenland can show what responsible Arctic leadership looks like: precautionary, science-based, and focused on the long term.

This is not only an environmental question – it is a geopolitical one.

The world is watching the Arctic. Greenland now has a chance to show that leadership here is not about extraction at any cost, but about protecting the foundations of our societies – for ourselves, and for generations to come.

The choice should be obvious: Inatsisartut should keep deep-sea mining out of Greenland’s waters.

You can read more about deep-sea mining and the impacts on the environment and ecosystems on the website of Oceans North Kalaallit Nunaat: https://oceansnorth.gl/da/news/oceans-north-kalaallit-nunaats-hoeringssvar-vedroerende-norges-offentlige-hoering-af-den-foerste-licensrunde-for-havbundsmineraler/

For further information, please contact: Jenseeraq Poulsen Executive Director, Oceans North Kalaallit Nunaat Email: jenseeraq@oceansnorth.gl / contact@oceansnorth.gl Cell phone: +299 483467