Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T07:53:43.872Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The impact of international law on natural resource governance in Greenland

Part of: International Law for Sustainability in Arctic Resource Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2020

Rachael Lorna Johnstone Open the ORCID record for Rachael Lorna Johnstone [Opens in a new window]
Rachael Lorna Johnstone*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Law, University of Akureyri, Sólborg, Akureyri IS600, Iceland
*
Author for correspondence: Rachael Lorna Johnstone, Email: rlj@unak.is
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The paper demonstrates how the evolution of international law on colonial and indigenous peoples, in particular evolving rights to sovereignty over natural resources, shaped the changing relationship between Greenland and the rest of the Danish Realm. Greenland today is in a unique position in international law, enjoying an extremely high degree of self-government. This paper explores the history, current status and future of Greenland through the lens of international law, to show how international obligations both colour its relationship with the Kingdom of Denmark and influence its approaches to resource development internally. It considers the invisibility of the Inuit population in the 1933 Eastern Greenland case that secured Danish sovereignty over the entire territory. It then turns to Denmark’s registration of Greenland as a non-self-governing territory (colony) in 1946 before Greenland’s-purported decolonisation in 1953 and the deficiencies of that process. In the second part of the 20th century, Denmark began to recognise the Greenland Inuit as an indigenous people before a gradual shift towards recognition of the Greenlanders as a people in international law, entitled to self-determination, including the right to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources. This peaked with the Self-Government Act of 2009. The paper will then go on to assess competing interpretations of the Self-Government Act of 2009 according to which the Greenland self-government is the relevant decision-making body for an increasing number of fields of competence including, since 1 January 2010, the governance of extractive industries. Some, including members of the Greenland self-government, argue that the Self-Government Act constitutes full implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP 2007), but this view is not universally shared. The paper also considers the status and rights of two Greenland minorities: the North Greenlanders (Inughuit) and the East Greenlanders, each of whom has distinct histories, experiences of colonisation, dialects (or languages) and cultural traditions. While the Kingdom of Denmark accepts the existence of only one indigenous people, namely, the Inuit of Greenland, this view is increasingly being challenged in international fora, including the UN human rights treaty bodies, as the two minorities are in some cases considered distinct indigenous peoples. Their current position in Greenland as well as in a future fully independent Greenland is examined, and the rights that they hold against the Greenland self-government as well as the Kingdom of Denmark explored. Greenland’s domestic regime for governance of non-renewable natural resources (principally mining and hydrocarbons) is briefly analysed and compared with international standards, with a particular emphasis on public participation. The paper assesses the extent to which it complies with the standards in key international instruments.

Keywords

Greenlandnatural resourcesinternational lawdecolonizationindigenous peoples
Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 56 , 2020 , e21
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aarhus Convention. (1998). Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters 1998. Adopted 25 June 1998, entered into force 30 October 2001. United Nations Treaty Series 2161, 447.Google Scholar
Act on Greenland Self-Government. (2009). Act No. 473 of 12 June 2009. English Translation Available from Statsministeriet. www.stm.dk/multimedia/GR_Self-Government_UK.doc (accessed 20 May 2019).Google Scholar
Alfredsson, G. (1982). Greenland and the law of political decolonization. German Yearbook of International Law, 25, 290–308.Google Scholar
Anaya, J. (2004). Indigenous Peoples in International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Association of Religion Data Archives. (n.d.) National Profiles: Greenland. http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_94_1.aspGoogle Scholar
Beukel, E., Jensen, F. P., & Rytter, J. E. (2010). Phasing out the Colonial Status of Greenland, 1945-54: A Historical Study. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press.Google Scholar
Burns, M. (2018). The ‘natural’ law of nations: society and the exclusion of first nations as subjects of international law. In Indigenous Peoples as Subjects of International Law: We Were Here First (pp. 38–53). Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Charter of the United Nations. (1945). Adopted 26 June 1945, entered into force 24 October 1945. United Nations Treaty Series 1, XVI.Google Scholar
Chemnitz Larsen, A., Juhl, C., Nordqvist, R., Myrup, M., Pedersen, H., Paviassen, M., Ege, C., & Hooge, N. H. (2016, February 12). Opinion: Requiring referendum on uranium. High North News. https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/opinion-requiring-referendum-uranium (accessed 22 March 2019).Google Scholar
Christensen, K., & Sørensen, J. (n.d.). The forced relocation of the Indigenous People of Uummannaq, or how to silence a minority. https://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledgebase/13-the-forced-relocation-of-the-indigenous-people-of-uummannaq-or-how-to-silence-a-minority (accessed 14 March 2019).Google Scholar
DANIDA. (2011). Strategy for Danish support to indigenous peoples. 2001-2010 (Rep.). http://www.netpublikationer.dk/um/11085/html/entire_publication.htm (accessed 15 March 2019).Google Scholar
Eastern Greenland Case (Denmark v Norway). (1933). Permanent Court of International Justice. PCIJ Series A/B, No. 53, 1933.Google Scholar
EU Council Decision. (2014). Council Decision 2014/137/EU of 14 March 2014 on relations between the European Union on the one hand, and Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark on the other. OJ L. 76/1, 2014.Google Scholar
EU Parliament & Council. (2014). Regulation no. 257/2014 amending Council regulation (EC) no. 2368/2002 as regards the inclusion of Greenland in implementing the Kimberley Process certification scheme. OJ L. 84/69, 2014.Google Scholar
EU Parliament & Council. (2017). Regulation no. 2017/821 laying down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas. OJ L. 130/1, 2017.Google Scholar
Fields of Responsibility assumed by the Greenland Home Rule Government (I and II) and Greenland Self-Government (III) respectively. (n.d.). http://www.stm.dk/multimedia/GR_oversigt_sagsomr_270110_UK.pdf (accessed 15 March 2019).Google Scholar
Friedberg, L. (Director). (2010). Experimentet [Motion picture]. Denmark: Sandrew Metronome Film distribution A/S.Google Scholar
Frommer’s. (n.d.) History in Virgin Islands. https://www.frommers.com/destinations/virgin-islands/in-depth/history (accessed 20 May 2010).Google Scholar
George, J. (2016, June 13). Greenland’s IA party wants referendum in wake of uranium export laws. Nunatsiaq News. https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/65674new_uranium_export_laws_prompt_greenlands_ia_to_seek_uranium_vote/ (accessed 22 March 2019).Google Scholar
Gioia, A., & Fournier, V. (2016, September 26). Member States’ Commitment to Treaties Strengthens Nuclear Safety and Security Globally. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/member-states-commitment-to-treaties-strengthens-nuclear-safety-and-security-globally (accessed 22 March 2019).Google Scholar
Government of Greenland, Greenland Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum. (2012). Report to Inatsisartut, the Parliament of Greenland, concerning mineral resources activities in Greenland. (Rep.).Google Scholar
Greenland-Danish Self-Government Commission. (2008). Report on Self-Government in Greenland: Executive Summary (Rep.). https://naalakkersuisut.gl/~/media/Nanoq/Files/Attached Files/Engelske-tekster/Summary of the paper.pdf (accessed 15 March 2019).Google Scholar
Greenland Home Rule Act. (1979). Act No. 577 of 29 November 1978.Google Scholar
Greenland Minerals and Energy A/S. (n.d.). Project Kvanefjeld. http://gme.gl/en/projekt_kvanefjeld (accessed 22 March 2019).Google Scholar
Greenland Minerals and Energy A/S. (2018, August 31). Inaugural Safeguards Inspection Brings Kvanefjeld into International Non-Proliferation System to Enable Uranium Production and Sales. https://wcsecure.weblink.com.au/pdf/GGG/02017042.pdf (accessed 22 March 2019).Google Scholar
Greenland Reconciliation Commission. (2017, December). Vi forstår fortiden; Vi tager ansvar for nutiden; Vi arbejder for en bedre fremtid (Rep.). https://saammaatta.gl//~/media/Forsoningskommission/Diverse/Endelig betænkning DK.pdf (accessed 14 March 2019).Google Scholar
Greenland Self-Government Commission. (2003). Betænkning afgivet af Selvstyrekommissionen (Rep.). https://naalakkersuisut.gl/da/Naalakkersuisut/Selvstyre/Selvstyrekommissionen/Betaenkning-afgivet-af-Selvstyrekommissionen (accessed 15 March 2019).Google Scholar
Greenland Treaty. (1985). Treaty amending, with regard to Greenland, the Treaties establishing the European Communities. OJ No I. 29/1, 1985Google Scholar
Hansen, A. M., & Johnstone, R. L. (2019). In the Shadow of the Mountain: Assessing early impacts on community development from two mining prospects in South Greenland. The Extractive Industries and Society, 6, 480–488. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2019.01.012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, A. M., Vanclay, F., Croal, P., & Skjervedal, A. H. (2016). Managing the social impacts of the rapidly-expanding extractive industries in Greenland. The Extractive Industries and Society, 3, 25–33. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2015.11.013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harper, K. (2017). Minik: The New York Eskimo. Hanover, NH: Steer Forth Press.Google Scholar
Hingitaq 53 v The Danish Prime Minister’s Office. (2003). Danish Supreme Court, Decision of 28 November 2003, cases 489/1999 and 490/1999.Google Scholar
IAEA. (1973, September 14). Information circular: the text of the Agreement, and of the Protocol thereto, between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in implementation of Article III (1) and (4) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. IAEA Doc. INFCIRC/193.Google Scholar
IAEA. (1977, April 18). Information Circular: The Text of the Agreement Between Denmark and the Agency for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. IAEA Doc. INFCIRC/176/Mod.1.Google Scholar
IAEA. (2013, April 4). Information Circular: Protocol Additional to the Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. IAEA Doc. INFCIRC /176/Add.1.Google Scholar
IAEA. (2017, May 12). IAEA Director General Visits Copenhagen and Greenland. Retrieved from 22 March 2019: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaea-director-general-visits-greenland-and-copenhagen.Google Scholar
ICC. (n.d.). ICC Greenland. http://www.inuit.org/ (accessed 15 March 2019).Google Scholar
ICC. (2009). A Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Sovereignty in the Arctic 2009. http://inuit.org/about-icc/icc-declarations/ (accessed 22 March 2019).Google Scholar
ILO Convention 169. (1989). Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention. Adopted 27 June 1989, entered into force 5 September 1991. International Legal Materials, 28, 1382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalvig, P. (1983). Preliminary Mining Assessment of the Uranium Resource at Kvanefjeld, the Ilímaussaq Intrusion, South Greenland. 1983 (Rep.). Roskilde: Risø National Laboratory.Google Scholar
Kleist, K. (2009, August 11). Statement by Mr. Kuupik Kliest, Premier of Greenland. Speech presented at Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2nd Session, Geneva.Google Scholar
Kleist, M. (2010). Greenland’s Self-Government. In Polar Law Textbook (pp. 171–198). Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers.Google Scholar
Lightfoot, S. R. (2016). Indigenous mobilization and activism in the UN system. In Handbook of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights (pp. 253–267). Abingdon: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martinez Cobo, J. (1987). Study of the Problem of Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations (Rep.). New York: United Nations. UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1986/7 Add. 4.Google Scholar
Miller, V. (2016). Referendums on the European Union (Briefing Paper Number 7570). https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7570#fullreport (accessed 15 March 2019).Google Scholar
Mineral Resources Act. (2009). Greenland Parliament Act of 7 December 2009 on Mineral Resources and Mineral Resource Activities.Google Scholar
Mortensen, B. O. G. (2014). The Quest for Resources – The Case of Greenland. Journal of Military and Strategic Studies, 15, 93–128.Google Scholar
Newcomb, S. (2018). Domination in relation to Indigenous (‘dominated’) Peoples in international law. In Indigenous Peoples as Subjects of International Law: We Were Here First (pp. 18–37). Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ngiviu, T. (2014). The Inughuit of Northwest Greenland: an unacknowledged Indigenous people. Yearbook of Polar Law, 6, 142–161. doi: 10.1163/1876-8814_006.Google Scholar
Nonbo Andersen, A. (2017). Ingen undskyldning: Erindringer om Dansk Vestindien og kravet om erstatninger for slaveriet. København: Gyldendal.Google Scholar
Nonbo Andersen, A. (2018). The reparations movement in the United States Virgin Islands. The Journal of African American History, 103 (Winter/Spring 2018), 104–132. doi: 10.1086/696335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nonbo Andersen, A. (2019). Restorative justice and the Greenlandic reconciliation process. Yearbook of Polar Law (in press).Google Scholar
Pelaudeix, C., Basse, E. M., & Loukacheva, N. (2017). Openness, transparency and public participation in the governance of uranium mining in Greenland: a legal and political track record. Polar Record, 53, 603–616. doi: 10.1017/s0032247417000596CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pew Research Center. (2011). Table: Christian Population as Percentages of Total Population by Country. http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/table-christian-population-as-percentages-of-total-population-by-country/Google Scholar
Priebe, J. (2018). A modern mine? Greenlandic media coverage on the mining community of Qullissat, western Greenland, 1942–1968. The Polar Journal, 8, 141–162. doi: 10.1080/2154896x.2018.1468620.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raghaven, M., et al. (2014). The Genetic Prehistory of the New World Arctic. Science, 345, 1255832.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmussen, M. V. (2013). Greenland Geopolitics: Globalisation and Geopolitics (Rep.). Committee for Greenlandic Mineral Resources to the Benefit of Society website. https://greenlandperspective.ku.dk/this_is_greenland_perspective/background/report-papers/Greenland_Geopolitics_Globalisation_and_Geopolitics_in_the_New_North.pdf (accessed 14 March 2019).Google Scholar
Rice, R. (2014). UNDRIP and the 2009 Bolivian Constitution: Lessons for Canada. In The Internationalization of Indigenous rights: UNDRIP in the Canadian Context. (Rep.). https://www.cigionline.org/sites/default/files/indigenous_rights_special_report_web.pdf (accessed 21 March 2019).Google Scholar
Rud, S. (2017). Colonialism in Greenland: Tradition, Governance and Legacy. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sejersen, F. (2014). Efterforskning og udnyttelse af råstoffer i Grønland i historisk perspektiv (Rep.). Committee for Greenlandic Mineral Resources to the Benefit of Society website. https://greenlandperspective.ku.dk/this_is_greenland_perspective/background/report-papers/Efterforskning_og_udnyttelse_af_r_stoffer_i_Gr_nland_i_historisk_perspektiv.pdf (accessed 14 March 2019).Google Scholar
SIK v Denmark. (2000). Report of the Committee Set Up to Examine the Representation Alleging Non-observance by Denmark of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), made Under Article 24 of the ILO Constitution by the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Greenland (Sulinermik Inuussutissarsiuteqartut Kattuffiat–SIK) (SIK v Denmark). GB.277/18/3; GB.280/18/5.Google Scholar
Staur, C., & Ambassador, H. E. (2012, May 17). Statement by Denmark and Greenland on agenda item 9. Speech presented at 11th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, New York.Google Scholar
Strandsbjerg, J. (2014). Making sense of contemporary Greenland: indigeneity, resources and sovereignty. In Polar Geopolitics?: Knowledges, Resources and Legal Regimes (pp. 259–276). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Strøm Tejsen, A. V. (1977). The history of the Royal Greenland Trade Department. Polar Record, 18, 451–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tejsner, P. (2014). Historical experiences and contemporary lessons from Qullissat. Bulletin: Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University. http://arctic.au.dk/news-and-events/news/show/artikel/historical-experiences-and-contemporary-lessons-from-qullissat/ (accessed 14 March 2019).Google Scholar
Thalbitzer, W., Andrup, G. C., & Holm, G. F. (1914). The Ammassalik Eskimo: Contributions to the Ethnology of the East Greenland Natives, vol. 1–2 (Meddelelser om Grønland). Copenhagen, 1914: Bianco Luna. (English translation).Google Scholar
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. (1968). Adopted 1 July 1968, entered into force 5 March 1970. United Nations Treaty Series 729, 161.Google Scholar
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. (2013). Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Denmark. Geneva. UN Doc. E/C.12/DNK/CO/. 6 June 2013.Google Scholar
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. (2010). Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Denmark. Geneva. UN Doc. CERD/C/DNK/CO/18-19. 20 September 2010.Google Scholar
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2004). The Concept of Indigenous Peoples. Background Paper Prepared by the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. New York. UN Doc. PFII/2004/WS.1/3. 19–21 January 2004.Google Scholar
UN General Assembly. (1954). Cessation of the Transmission of Information under Article 73 e of the Charter in Respect of Greenland. GA Res 849 (IX). 22 November 1954.Google Scholar
UN General Assembly. (1960a). Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. GA Res 1514 (XV). 14 December 1960.Google Scholar
UN General Assembly. (1960b). Transmission of Information Under Article 73 e of the Charter. GA Res 1541 (XV). 15 December 1960.Google Scholar
UN General Assembly. (1962). Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources. GA Res 1803 (XVII). 14 December 1962.Google Scholar
UN General Assembly. (2000). The Role of Diamonds in Fuelling Conflict: Breaking the Link Between the Illicit Transaction of Rough Diamonds and Armed Conflict as a Contribution to Prevention and Settlement of Conflicts. GA Res 55/56. 1 December 2000.Google Scholar
UNDRIP. (2007). UN General Assembly. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. GA Res 61/295. 13 September 2007.Google Scholar
UN Human Rights Committee. (2008). Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee: Denmark. UN Doc. CCPR/C/DNK/CO/5. 16 December 16 2008.Google Scholar
UN Human Rights Council. (2009). Working Group on Universal Periodic Review 2009: Canada. UN Doc. A/HRC/11/17. 29 May 2009.Google Scholar
UN Security Council. (2003). Resolution 1459 Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. UN Doc. S/RES/1459. 28 January 2003.Google Scholar
UN Treaty Collection: Depositary. (2019, March 22). Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=xxvii-13&chapter=27&lang=en#EndDec (accessed 22 March 2019).Google Scholar
Vestergaard, C. (2013, January). The European Union, its overseas territories, and non-proliferation: The case of Arctic yellowcake (Paper No. 25). SIPRI website. https://www.sipri.org/publications/2013/eu-non-proliferation-papers/european-union-its-overseas-territories-and-non-proliferation-case-arctic-yellowcake (accessed 15 March 2019).Google Scholar
Vestergaard, C. (2015). Greenland, Denmark and the pathway to uranium supplier status. The Extractive Industries and Society, 2, 153–161. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2014.10.001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vestergaard, C., & Thomasen, G. (2016a, January 18). Governing Uranium in the Danish Realm (Rep.). Danish Institute for International Studies website. https://www.diis.dk/en/research/governing-uranium-in-the-realm (accessed 22 March 2019).Google Scholar
Vestergaard, C., & Thomasen, G. (2016b, February 26). Danish-Greenlandic Declaration towards Uranium Trade. https://www.diis.dk/en/research/danish-greenlandic-declaration-towards-uranium-trade.Google Scholar
Vienna Convention on the Succession of States in Respect of Treaties. (1978). Adopted 22 August 1978, entered into force 6 November 1996. United Nations Treaty Series 1946, 3.Google Scholar
Watson, I. (2015). Aboriginal Peoples, Colonialism and International Law: Raw Law. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Watson, I., & Venne, S. (2012). Talking up Indigenous Peoples’ original intent in a space dominated by state interventions. In Indigenous Rights in the Age of the UN Declaration (pp. 87–109). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar