Greenland’s future must be decided by its people

AS GREENLAND heads to the polls on Mar 11, Mute B Egede, the prime minister since 2021, and his Inuit Ataqatigiit party favour independence from Denmark. But rising local support for that goal is tempered by concerns about living standards. Greenland receives an annual fiscal transfer from Denmark of about US$623 million (roughly US$11,000 per person, given an estimated population of 56,000). Together with other government services provided by Denmark, the total level of support is likely closer to US$1 billion per year.

US President Donald Trump says he wants to “buy” Greenland, but another recent poll indicates that 85 per cent of Greenlanders reject that option. As a former president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council recently put it, “The way that indigenous peoples are often treated in America, where their languages and cultures have been marginalised, is hardly a good sales pitch for the idea of Greenland as part of the United States.”

Trump has expressed an interest in acquiring Greenland since 2019, and he recently refused to rule out a coup de main to seize the island. While it is increasingly hard to predict what the US will do, local leaders must ensure that Greenland maintains inclusive institutions guaranteeing full economic and political rights for all inhabitants, without which there can be no shared prosperity. Mineral rights are collectively owned, and if revenue from this sector rises, Greenlanders will surely want to share fully in the benefits. Other important decisions, including environmental policies, also currently rest appropriately in local hands.