Last week, the UK government announced fresh trade negotiations with Greenland, the day after European leaders, including Keir Starmer, gathered in Copenhagen for the European Political Community Summit. Alongside talks over reducing tariffs on seafood imports, the British government said it ‘will seek to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals.’
The UK is entering a crowded field, with the US and the EU competing with China to access Greenland’s rare earths as they attempt to diversify away from Beijing’s dominance of the global critical minerals supply chain.
The UK’s best approach would be to cooperate closely with European partners, including Denmark. The EU has close relations with Greenland and has already signed a partnership to develop its sustainable raw material value chains.
While the UK may want to secure critical minerals for its long-term supply chain needs, it should approach any mining ventures in Greenland within wider considerations of both Arctic security and the climate crisis.
Extracting critical minerals without the right environmental safeguards risks causing further harm in a territory whose ice sheet is already rapidly melting, with disastrous results for the global climate. But if it prioritizes Indigenous rights and environmental safeguards, a UK-Greenland minerals trade deal has the potential to become a global benchmark for responsible sourcing.
Climate risks and geopolitics converging
The UK-Greenland trade talks come as the territory finds itself at the crossroads of the climate crisis and geopolitical competition for resources.
Greenland is warming faster than almost anywhere else on Earth. Latest data from the 2025 thawing period shows that Greenland is experiencing ongoing ice loss for its 29th consecutive year, with a significant increase in melting rates compared to the early 1990s.
As global temperatures climb, the Greenland ice sheet is approaching a critical tipping point. Once this threshold is crossed, the ice sheet will no longer be able to fully recover. Further melting could trigger irreversible global sea-level rise of more than seven metres, raising oceans and profoundly altering the world’s coastlines. This would put tens of millions of people in low-lying areas worldwide at risk, with far-reaching impacts on global security and migration.