Business groups float $6 billion in sustainable investments for Greenland
Greenland Business Association, the Confederation of Danish Industry and the CIP Foundation released a joint catalogue at this week’s Future Greenland conference, identifying nine investment opportunities worth more than DKK 40 billion ($6.2 billion), roughly twice Greenland’s annual GDP. The organisations say the projects could strengthen the Greenlandic economy while cutting emissions and creating jobs.
The catalogue grew out of a spring 2025 meeting between Greenlandic prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen and draws on roughly 50 dialogue meetings with companies, experts and organisations in Greenland and Denmark. Its guiding principle, the authors stress, is “nothing about Greenland without Greenland.”
Four projects are described as ready to move within five years. They include shore power in the ports of Nuuk, Ilulissat, Sisimiut and other towns where cruise traffic is rising; a grant and loan programme for energy renovation and electrification, with renovation needs in privately owned buildings alone estimated at up to 10 billion kroner (1.5 billion USD); renewable energy facilities in smaller towns and settlements such as Qeqertarsuatsiaat, Qaqortoq, Upernavik, Nanortalik and Tasiilaq; and projects to absorb the surplus hydropower expected when the Buksefjord plant expansion is completed in 2032.
The five longer-term ideas are more capital-intensive. They include new large-scale hydropower at Lakes Tasersiaq and Tarsartuup Tasersua, which are due to be put out to commercial tender at the end of 2026; commercial extraction of glacial flour for CO2 capture and soil improvement; the Malmbjerg molybdenum mine, where Canadian company Greenland Resources has secured a 30-year licence and is seeking around USD 1 billion; the Amitsoq graphite mine, recently licensed to British company GreenRoc; and data centres tied to Greenland’s renewable energy potential.
Taken together, the catalogue estimates the projects could save more than 300,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year, more than half of Greenland’s current carbon footprint, and generate tax revenues in the billions over 20 to 30 years.
The report identifies a shortage of risk capital and uncertainty about regulatory frameworks as the main reasons why several of the projects have stalled. They propose a dedicated Arctic energy and infrastructure fund modelled on Denmark’s SDG Fund, combining public catalytic capital with private investment from pension funds and EU programmes. The report also points to administrative capacity, workforce shortages and incentive structures, including artificially low fuel prices, as cross-cutting obstacles.
