Newsletter We Went to Greenland When the Noise Had Quieted Down

Les på norsk.

Life in the Arctic is often covered by journalists with a major geographical distance from those who live here. Journalists respond to individual incidents, not unlike the Armed Forces' paratroopers, who disappear as soon as they arrive.

Journalist Birgitte Annie Hansen has been to Nuuk, Greenland, to participate in a major international science conference. 400 researchers from 20 countries met to take advantage of the recent attention on Greenland.

We also met parts of the new Arctic Council chairship, of which several are located in Greenland. That includes Kenneth Høegh, the new Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials, and Camilla Olsen, Chair of the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group.

In Greenland, Steven Arnfjord has conducted research on the vast island's homeless population. The professor believes that more research will not solve any problems, but that more political activism will.

And we have more from Greenland: Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt has signed an agreement with a Japanese peace foundation for more peace research in the Arctic.

The fact that the "world press" is finished with Greenland this time around does not make the geopolitical developments in Greenland any less important.

Industry, fisheries and scorching heat

The iron industry in Norway and Iceland is struggling after the EU finally decided to exclude them from the internal market.

In a comment, I describe the consequences of this and Norway's simultaneous struggle to land a fisheries agreement with Russia. Both are of great importance for the High North.

An eventful week, in other words, where we have also launched a new podcast in collaboration with the Arctic Council. This time, the theme is "The Arctic on Fire" – in the literal sense.

Read about all this, and much more, at High North News.

Happy reading,

From Editor Arne O. Holm