Kuupik: On climate change

The Arctic is not only ice, icebergs and glaciers. People also live there, who want development opportunities. The question of a global climate agreement occupies us all, and the prospective agreement should be based on the principles of respect for each other's circumstances, social and developmental justice, and willingness to take global responsibility.

Regional differences like climate and infrastructure however give countries a different starting point and thus different opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A regional perspective should therefore be included when obligations under a new agreement are discussed.

Co-responsibility and sustainability must be central elements in the agreement, but at the same time we must ensure that development is not held back in countries which are not yet as economically and industrially developed as industrialised countries. Global demand for industrial products will increase also after COP15 in Copenhagen. The challenge is therefore to make tomorrow's products as environmentally friendly as possible.

If an obligation is imposed on every country, the non-industrialised countries will be penalised more severely, because it causes inequality in the global competition by allowing industrialised countries to continue their emissions, while developing countries are denied the economic opportunity to create new – and cleaner – industry.

For some years, Greenland has focused on cleaner technology and renewable energy. Today, 43% of our energy production comes from hydropower, and in a few years' time it will be 60%. Since the 1990s Greenland has on average used 1% of GDP on hydropower plants, and that is something we intend to continue with. We have considerable potential resources in hydropower, just as we have a considerable need to strengthen our economy.
There are discussions currently under way regarding the establishment of an aluminium smelter, which will be run on hydropower. Calculations show that CO2 emissions from a smelter run on hydropower are nine times less than a smelter run on fossil fuel. An aluminium smelter based on hydropower is thus a global benefit.

It is a lot easier to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from a high starting level than from a low one. So I hope that a new climate agreement will secure smaller developing countries the opportunity to establish new industries despite the fact that it increases their emissions, and that will be supported in doing it on a sustainable basis.