Greenland takes up the challenge

Greenland Tourism and Business Council

Greenland’s melting inland ice and retreating glaciers have long been centre stage in the debate on global climate change. The retreat of the glaciers makes climate change particularly visible. From Greenland’s perspective, the challenges and consequences of climate change are significantly more far-reaching.

In Greenland and the Arctic, the climate is changing twice as fast as anywhere else. Photo: Greenland Tourism & Business Council

Greenland is a separate country within the Kingdom of Denmark. At more than 2 million km², Greenland is the world’s largest island. Over 80% of its area is covered by inland ice. Only along the coast are there narrow ice-free regions. Here, for thousands of years, the Inuit have lived and made a living from nature in this amazing, yet harsh, Arctic setting.

Today, Greenland is a modern society with a population of 56,000 living in 18 towns and approximately 60 settlements strung along a coastline of more than 44,000 km. None of the towns or settlements are connected by road. All transportation of people and goods is by air or ship.

Double-edged sword

These geographical conditions mean virtually all local communities have to have their own energy supply. Greenland has implemented one of its massive energy policy initiatives – targeted expansion of energy supplies based on hydroelectric power – often in inaccessible regions and under very difficult conditions.

The Buksefjorden hydroelectric power station, commissioned in 1993, is Greenland’s biggest civil engineering project ever. High-voltage cables carry the energy to the capital, Nuuk, via a 57-km overhead cable. Along the route, there are unsupported load lengths of up to 5.3 km.

As much as 40% of the energy supply is currently based on hydroelectric power. More hydroelectric power stations are on the way – Greenland’s fourth hydroelectric power station opens in early 2010, so the percentage of renewable energy will obviously increase in the years ahead.

Hydroelectric power represents such huge potential in terms of energy that Greenland is looking into opportunities to develop energy-intensive industry. From a global perspective, this would be an advantage, because CO₂ emissions are reduced where industry is based on renewable energy. Seen in isolation, though, Greenland would increase its CO₂ emissions, and this is a key aspect of Greenland’s approach to a global climate agreement after Kyoto.

The same problem area is again apparent in relation to the prospects of Greenland’s potential exploitation of oil and minerals. The melting of the sea ice and inland ice makes it easier and more profitable to utilise these resources.

Calculations show Greenland has a theoretical hydro power potential to supply 70% of Europe with electricity. Photo: Nukissiorfiit

Independent economy

More than 90% of Greenland’s exports derive from fish and shellfish, notably prawns. Fishing will continue to be a key occupation, but on its own would not suffice as the economic backbone of an economically independent Greenland.

In the field of renewable energy and energy-saving construction, there are a number of initiatives for developing special Arctic technology, for example, solar energy facilities adapted to
Arctic conditions.

Tourism, too, has potential for development. Climate tourism is growing rapidly. Global climate change is visible in Greenland, and one of the most famous climate spots, the glacier at the end of Ilulissat Ice Fjord, attracts thousands of tourists each year.

Less ice in Greenland’s waters means better conditions for shipping. This, too, will have a positive effect on tourism, for example cruise ship tourism is enjoying growth. At the same time, Greenland is keenly aware of the environmental consequences inherent in the potential for international shipping to sail along the west coast of Greenland and north of Canada or Russia, if the Northeast
and Northwest Passages become ice free, as anticipated, within the foreseeable future.

Tele Greenland is investing in green IT in the form of a data communications cable between Iceland, Greenland and North America, powered by renewable energy. The capacity of the cable far exceeds Greenland’s requirements, and this opens up new opportunities for export and commerce for owners of Internet services who want to differentiate themselves from others by using renewable energy as the basis for powering their servers and cooling systems.

Greenland during COP15

Global climate change carries both threats and opportunities, as far as Greenland is concerned. There could be major changes ahead in terms of fauna, nature and the traditional way of life. The people of Greenland will need apply all their adaptability and will in order to recognise the opportunities inherent in the challenges they face. This entire complex problem area is the backdrop for a number of communications initiatives in connection with the COP15 climate conference in Copenhagen. The main highlights here are the exhibition In the Eye of Climate Change at the North Atlantic House cultural centre in Copenhagen in the period 12–20 December 2009 and on the website www.climategreenland.gl. Both offer excellent scope for learning more about the many aspects of Greenland’s encounter with global climate change.

W: www.greenland.com
W: www.climategreenland.gl