Resources, Peoples, and Environment

Natural Resources Management in Greenland
Maria Ackrén

Abstract
The exploration and exploitation of natural resources have a long history in Greenland, even though, much attention has been drawn towards the region in the recent decades due to climate change and new opportunities to establish this form of large-scale industry. During the Home Rule back in 1979 to 2008 the area of natural resources was a joint matter according to the legislation, but with the extended Self-Government Act from 2009 Greenland has sole responsibility over the area. There has been a lot of attention drawn towards South Greenland where rare earth elements and uranium has become a hot topic due to dual use (both for civilian and military purposes). This has led to new agreements between Denmark and Greenland regulating the mining industry. There are several mining projects underway, but the harsh regulations and the world market prices have been some obstacles for foreign investors.

Speaker bio
Maria Ackrén is Head of Department for Arctic Social Sciences and Economics and Associate Professor in Political Science at Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland. She has taken her Ph.D. at Åbo Akademi University in Finland back in 2009. Her main research areas focus on territorial autonomy arrangements in the world, island studies, regional parties with a focus on Faroe Islands, Greenland and the Åland Islands, Arctic international relations with a focus on Greenland, and comparative methods. She is now writing on a book about foreign policy in Greenland amongst other projects.

Climate Change and Human Rights in Greenland: Legal Challenges and Possibilities
Miriam Cullen

Abstract
For Greenland, climate change is multifaceted: its effects at once diminish familiar aspects of everyday life and at the same time could advance social and economic prospects. In particular the opening of the northwest passage and ease of access to mineral deposits for extractive industries, means that there are plenty of people, states and legal entities, vying to position themselves both in case of Greenlandic independence and for present day strategic advantage. The Greenlandic Government is not naïve to this but since the Act on Greenland Self-Government there have been obvious tensions between international best practice in rights mechanisms such as free prior and informed consent, and the approach taken within Greenland.  Moreover, adaptation to climate change in Greenland is both shaped and inhibited by the colonial encounter and its relationship with Denmark. This paper examines the impacts of climate change in Greenland, and the challenges for a human rights-based response, in the context of its colonial past and the complexity of its contemporary system of law and governance.

Speaker bio
Miriam Cullen is Assistant Professor of Climate and Migration Law at Copenhagen University. Her research focuses on how legal frameworks can help to facilitate climate change adaptation, including mobility and disaster risk reduction. She sits on the Advisory Committee to the Platform on Disaster Displacement and is a member of the pool of experts to the joint European Union and Council of Europe project on Human Rights Protection of Migrants. She has published on human rights, disaster and displacement, minority rights and climate change. Before coming to academia, Miriam worked for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and managed numerous public inquiries for parliament.

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