By Tina Landis on March 17, 2025
Scenes from the March 15 protest. Liberation News collage
Climate change is opening up previously untapped resources for extractivist industries to exploit in the Arctic region, which has experienced a temperature increase twice the global average with record loss of summer sea-ice cover and more frequent and intense extreme weather events.
Within the capitalist world order, having valuable natural resources on your land can be more of a curse than a blessing. Take Greenland, for example. On March 15, in the largest protest in its history, around 1,000 Greenlanders protested outside the U.S. consulate against Trump’s threats to annex the island nation. Protesters held signs with slogans of “Make America Go Away,” “We are not for sale,” and “Respect Greenland’s sovereignty.”
A target of mining interests for decades
The capitalist vultures have been circling Greenland for decades, long before Trump’s first tweet in 2019 expressing his desire to take over the world’s largest island. Greenland, which has some of the largest deposits of valuable rare earth elements (REE) in the world, has become the target of capitalist mining interests over the last few decades with deposits of 43 of the 50 critical minerals that the U.S. considers key to “national security” – meaning securing dominance over “green” markets for U.S. capitalist interests. These minerals are used in a wide array of products including wind turbines, cell phones, computers, semiconductors, LED lights, electric vehicle batteries, solar cells, battery power storage, among others.
Mining operations remain logistically challenging in Greenland with 81 percent of the island covered by an ice sheet and travel between settlements restricted to transport by air or sea. Despite these difficulties, Australia’s Energy Transition Minerals obtained a license from the Greenlandic government in 2007 to explore mining in Kvanefjeld due to the immense potential profits from the one billion tons of mineralized ore and 270,000 tons of uranium at the site. In 2021, the project was blocked by legislation that banned mining of minerals with a certain level of uranium content, which naturally occurs in REE deposits. There is currently a lawsuit pending against Denmark and Greenland by Energy Transition Minerals seeking the right to mine the site or $11.5 billion in compensation – which is four times the gross domestic product of Greenland.
The only country under indigenous government
Like more than 70 other countries around the globe, Greenland hosts a U.S. military base, which was established through a 1951 military treaty between Denmark and the United States. Greenland has a population of around 56,000, 89.5% of whom are Indigenous Greenlandic Inuit. This makes Greenland the only country under indigenous self-government, although as a territory they rely on financial support from Denmark.
Due to the Greenlandic populations’ deep ties and reliance on the natural world, the previous government, under the leadership of Múte Egede of the democratic-socialist Inuit Ataqatigiit party, banned REE mining based on its severe environmental impacts. Mining of REE produces large amounts of toxic waste that pollutes air, water and soil. Because REEs are often laced with radioactive uranium and thorium, these mining operations have a long lasting public health impact.
Election results: A firm ‘no’ to becoming a U.S. colony
Last week’s election in Greenland demonstrated overwhelmingly support for gradual independence from Denmark and rejected Trump’s arrogant proposal for the nation to become a U.S. colony. Although all five Greenlandic parties support sovereignty, the question of the continued ban on REE mining is uncertain. The election victor, the center-right Demokraatit, received 30 percent of the votes and would like to move the country more toward low-tax, business-friendly policies, but as of this writing it remains unclear what forces will make up the ruling coalition in parliament. A coalition between Demokraatik and the second place Naleraq party would likely open up the country to extraction of REE and fossil fuels. But an alliance between Demokaatik and the former ruling party Inuit Ataqatigiit, which retains mass support from the residents of the Narsaq settlement near the proposed Kvanefjeld mine, could mean a retention of the mining ban.
Capitalist mining: Extracting a ton of rare earths produces 2,000 tons of toxic waste
The contradictions of the “green” capitalist mechanisms that claim to be the solution to climate change are clearly demonstrated in the case of REE extraction. Through mining, refining and disposal, REEs have significant environmental impacts. Most REEs are mined through open pit mining which destroys ecosystems, which in the Arctic region are much slower to recover due to the shorter growing season. The mines are also a point source for the release of major contaminants including radioactive contaminants. The subsequent refining process releases metal byproducts into the environment, polluting air, water and soil, causing harm to all species. The immense amounts of toxic waste produced has a high environmental and health hazard and includes radioactive residues. For every ton of REE produced, 2,000 tons of toxic waste are produced.
As climate change is increasingly threatening subsistence-based cultures like Greenland, these communities are feeling pressure to open up to extractivist interests. While REE mining operations could create millions in revenue and hundreds of jobs, the carbon emissions and radioactive waste and runoff would threaten the Greenlandic Inuit’s traditional way of life and their fishing industry.
It is undeniable that the Global South and indigenous communities whose societies are based on subsistence and a close connection to the natural world are being impacted more severely by climate change. The Global North is less impacted due to a higher level of development due to the legacy of colonialism and imperialism, yet, are responsible for the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions and ecological devastation that has occurred globally since the Industrial Revolution. This plunder of resources to feed the markets of wealthy nations continues through the “greening” of capitalism and the extraction of REE by transnationals in many Global South countries.
The ‘green’ in capitalist mining is for money
The capitalist goal is to profit off the “green” economy under the guise of addressing climate change rather than transforming our relationship with the natural world, which is what is needed to truly maintain a livable planet. Greenland is at a decisive point in its history. It can open up to global capitalist interests and become a sacrifice zone that spirals much of its population into extreme poverty, environmental degradation, displacement and reliance on foreign powers, or it can continue to hold the mining interests at bay and maintain its Indigenous sovereignty and ties to the land.
There is another path forward to truly address climate change in a sustainable way that doesn’t create sacrifice zones out of entire regions just to decarbonize the richest nations, which in the end won’t stem global climate catastrophe. What we need is a socialist planned economy that produces only what is needed by society in the most ecologically sustainable manner, rather than overproduction of “green” products to continue to fuel a consumer culture to enrich a handful of billionaires.
Socialism would promote sustainability
Under socialism, products would be made to last to reduce the need for REEs and would be recycled and repurposed as much as possible. Instead of everyone owning their own vehicle powered by REE-dependent batteries, we could have accessible, affordable mass transit and decommodify housing so we could all afford to live close to where we work, go to school and recreate. Under socialism, there would be collaborative research and sharing of knowledge to find materials to replace ecologically devastating REEs, instead of corporate trade secrets that only hold back sustainable technological developments.
Trump’s repeated arrogant assertion for the annexation of Greenland is actually what many in the ruling class want. He is just a more open and honest expression of imperialism than others of his class.
We must stand with our Greenlandic brothers and sisters and all those fighting around the world against U.S. imperialism. We cannot retreat in fear and demoralization over the constant barrage of attacks from the White House against people and the planet. We must instead continue to build and strengthen the multi-national people’s movement to win a socialist future.
Tina Landis is the author of the book Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism.
Source: Liberation News