Greenland, the world’s largest island, is rapidly emerging as a strategic frontier in the global energy transition. With vast, largely untapped reserves of critical minerals essential to clean technologies, the US and the EU, are bidding to secure resource deals, in an industry dominated by China. Greenland, which remains politically part of Denmark, is looking for foreign investment, prioritising sustainable partnerships, local development, and long-term autonomy. However, the path forward is complex. 80% of Greenland is covered by ice, infrastructure is sparse, and questions remain over the compatibility of mining and environmental regulation. This Just the Facts delves into Greenland’s emerging role in the global race for critical minerals.

Greenland and the race for critical minerals

The age of electricity

Greenland or Kalaallit Nunaat (“Country of the Greenlanders” in Greenlandic), the world’s largest island, is rapidly emerging as a strategic frontier in the global energy transition.

As the world moves toward a clean energy future, the global economy is shifting into what the International Energy Agency (IEA) calls the “age of electricity”. In the last decade, electricity use has grown at twice the pace of overall energy demand and is expected to grow six times as fast by 2035.

This shift is driving unprecedented demand for critical minerals or Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) (as defined by the EU), which are essential for modern technologies such as renewable energy systems, batteries, electric vehicles (EVs), chips and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

These critical minerals such as copper, cobalt, nickel, graphite and lithium, Rare Earth Elements (REEs), among others, are extracted from deposits beneath the Earth. Greenland’s geology positions it as a key player in this new energy economy. In 2023, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) reported that 25 of the 34 minerals on the EU Commission critical raw materials list are found in Greenland. Notably, Greenland is said to hold the eighth largest reserves of REEs globally.

The critical mineral economy

Like fossil fuels, minerals are non-renewable, are extracted from the earth, creating global supply risks and generating dependencies on mineral-rich economies.

According to the IEA Global Energy Outlook 2025 three countries dominate the market share of critical mineral mining: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (cobalt), Indonesia (nickel), and China (graphite and REEs). Notable emerging producers in lithium mining are Argentina and Zimbabwe. However, China wholly controls the critical mineral supply chain, dominating the refining and manufacturing of critical materials, processing over 90% of global REEs, and holding the majority share of copper, lithium, cobalt, and graphite production.

China leverages its dominance of the critical mineral supply chain through export controls. In April 2025, China suspended exports of certain REEs to the US amid rising trade tensions, exposing the US’s dependency on Chinese supply chains. Meanwhile Europe’s share of global mined production and reserves is considerably low by regional comparisons, particularly in REEs.

Greenland, situated between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean, in between Europe and North America, is catalysing a new strategic frontier between the two regions in securing Greenland’s vast, untapped mineral reserves.

Political and local realities in Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenland has its own directly elected government, the Naalakkersuisut, who oversee domestic policies, while Denmark maintains control of Greenland’s constitution, citizenship, Supreme Court, foreign affairs, defence, and currency.

Greenland is home to just under 57,000 people, 88% of whom are Greenlandic Inuit. Most settlements are along the narrow, ice-free coastal fringes, with two-thirds of the population residing in the capital, Nuuk, located on the southwest coast.

The question of independence

Greenland’s pursuit of independence is inseparable from the question of economic diversification and increasingly so, from the politics of critical minerals.

Under the 2009 Self-Government Act, Greenland gained authority over its natural resources and the right to pursue full independence through a referendum, subject to a final agreement with Denmark. However, with Danish grants still covering around 20% of Greenland’s GDP and with limited economic diversification given that fishing accounts for 97% of exports, financial self-sufficiency remains a distant goal.

A general election in March 2025 ushered in a new government led by Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielson of the centre-right, pro-business Demokraatit (Democrats) party. The new government sees the development of the resource industry as a path to “financial independence and autonomy in the long term”, with a focus on advancing its mineral sector through local settlements and local labour.

Infrastructure and investment

Despite its geological wealth, mineral extraction in Greenland is not straightforward. As of June 2025, only two active mines operate on the island, extracting anorthosite. 80% of Greenland’s overall territory is covered by ice (Greenland Ice Sheet). Infrastructure is limited, making resource development logistically complex and capital-intensive.

Icebreaker vessels are essential for extracting minerals in Greenland, particularly in the fjords, however they take years to build and neither Greenland nor Denmark has any. Only a handful of countries possess them, including Russia (some nuclear), China, the US, Canada, Finland and Sweden.

Any major mineral venture will require long-term investment in building Greenland’s physical and logistical capacity. There are no roads between communities, with most transport via aeroplane, helicopter, dog sledding or boat.

Scope for future partnerships

Who’s interested?

Globally, countries are ramping up efforts to secure critical minerals. Strategically situated in the Arctic, Greenland is attracting attention, primarily from the US and Europe.

The US has taken an increasingly confrontational stance in its relations with Greenland. US President Trump’s renewed suggestions to buy or annex Greenland, alongside uninvited visits by US Vice President J.D. Vance and Donald Trump Jr., have been wholly rebuked. Greenlandic officials have described these actions as “highly aggressive,” prompting a show of unity across Greenland’s political spectrum in defence of territorial integrity and self-determination. Denmark has firmly rejected any suggestion of Greenland being for sale.

Notwithstanding this situation, Greenland has expressed its wish to renew the 2019 memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the US that provides a framework for Greenlandic and US cooperation on mineral sector governance.

By contrast, the EU has taken a more cooperative approach. French President Emmanuel Macron, invited by the new government for an official visit in June 2025, has publicly defended Greenland’s sovereignty, declaring it is “not for the taking” at the June 2025 UN Ocean Conference. At the same time, the European Commission formally designated Greenland a “Strategic Project” in June 2025, signalling Greenland as a competitive partner in critical minerals. Greenland has matched the interest, signposting the EU as a sustainable value chain and a key buyer’s market for Greenland’s mineral resources.

However, Minister for Business and Mineral Resources Naaja Nathanielsen expressed that Greenland is open to alternative mining partners, including China, if the EU, and equally the US, do not meet the conditions for partnership.

Crucially, under the Greenland Self-Government Act, once its annual revenues from mineral resources exceed €10 million, Denmark’s financial grant will be reduced. As Denmark prepares to assume the Presidency of the Council of the EU in July 2025, can it be an honest broker as Greenland navigates its mineral negotiations, particularly with the EU?

Environmental protection

The paradox of climate change remains – to produce renewable and clean energies, we must still dig up the earth. The Greenland Mineral Resources Strategy 2025-2029 sets out that its mineral resource industry is to be carried out in an environmentally and socially responsible way. Greenland’s Minister for Business and Mineral Resources has said that the EU aligns with Greenland’s environmental standards.

However, Greenland’s marine ecosystems suffered environmental degradation from past mining projects in the 1970s, such as lead and zinc pollution. In 2021, Greenland banned fossil fuel exploration, and uranium mining, over environmental concerns.

The clash between environmental regulation and investor interests has come to a head in Greenland. The Kvanefjeld site in south Greenland is one of the world’s largest reserves of uranium and REEs. Australian-based Energy Transition Minerals (ETM), who purchased the Kvanefjeld site in 2007, have launched a $11.5 billion claim against Greenland over its uranium ban. The result of this case will create a precedent for how Greenland is to balance foreign investment in its mining sector while maintaining its environmental regulatory sovereignty.

Critical minerals, critical choices

Greenland’s strategic role in the critical mineral supply chain is more visible, and more contested than ever. As global powers compete for access, the island’s push for sustainable and sovereign development may become a model, or a point of contention, in a region experiencing rapid transformations due to the melting Arctic ice; exposing contested territory, unlocking new resource zones and exposing geopolitical chokepoints. As the world enters the new age of electricity, Greenland’s choices today could shape the rules of engagement for Arctic resource competition for decades to come.