Greenland joins Paris Agreement

Speaking at the UN’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Greenland’s Premier Múte B Egede announced that the government would give up the country’s exemption from the Paris Agreement and would be looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, although no specific emissions reductions initiatives or targets have been announced.

Greenland supported the adoption of the Paris Agreement but in 2016 was granted a ‘territorial reservation’, which meant that it did not need to abide by the carbon pollution goals set by Denmark. The argument at the time was that doing so would come at a huge cost for Greenland and prevent it from developing the industrialised economy it needs to be able to declare independence from Denmark, reports Arctic Today.

Oil was once seen as a key element of an independent Greenland economy, but in July 2021 Egede’s government announced it would no longer permit oil exploration in a move to reduce environmental costs and reflect global energy transition efforts. It sees significant opportunities in the hydroelectric sector.