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Paper short abstract

This article analyzes the layered meanings and impacts of two REE mining projects in southern Kalaallit Nunaat through the notion of sacrifice zones, understood as areas damaged for a (purported) greater good.

Paper long abstract

The residents of Kalaallit Nunaat are facing a confluence of interests around rare earth elements (REE)—vital for military hardware and green technology—and global power. The notion of “sacrifice zones” has been variously deployed US nuclear policy, geography, and to describe environmental harm (Reinert, 2018). While mining may eventually contribute to Kalaallit Nunaat’s economic independence, their impacts are experienced unevenly. European and Nordic approaches to the green transition require REEs for green technologies, which risks shifting the onus of extraction from choice to an obligation for those living near these resources. The battle over the Kvanefjeld REE mining project reflects Sokolova’s (2025) question: “Who gets to imagine a fossil-free future?” Most local and national political opposition concentrated on potential uranium exposure and environmental destruction, but the mine’s other impacts were clearly documented. The project’s Environmental Impact Assessment found that it would increase Greenland’s greenhouse gas emissions 45% (2020, EIA, p. 21). This paper analyzes local resilience and organizing in the face of potential environmental harm through an STS lens based on ethnographic interviews, mining company documents, and court records to interrogate the tension between a projected marketed as “green,” yet clearly documented as causing significant environmental harm.

References:

Greenland Minerals A/S, “Kvanefjeld Project: Environmental Impact Assessment,” 13 December 2020. https://etransmin.com/wp-content/uploads/20201213-EIA_GML-2020-_EN__Final30068214064.1.pdf

Reinert, Hugo. 2018. “Notes from a Projected Sacrifice Zone.” ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies 17(2):597–617.