Greenland votes to scrap ban on uranium mining

Greenland's parliament has voted to end a decades-long prohibition on mining for radioactive materials like uranium, further opening up the country to investors from Australia to China eager to tap its vast mineral resources.

The move will not only allow the mining of uranium deposits, but also of rare earths, minerals used in 21st century products from wind turbines to hybrid cars and smartphones and that are currently mostly extracted by China.

With sea ice thawing and new Arctic shipping routes opening, the former cold war ally of the West has emerged from isolation and gained geopolitical attention from the likes of Beijing and Brussels thanks to its untapped mineral wealth.

"We cannot live with unemployment and cost of living increases while our economy is at a standstill. It is therefore necessary that we eliminate zero tolerance towards uranium now," Greenland Prime Minister Aleqa Hammond was quoted as saying by local newspaper Sermitsiaq during the debate. Hammond's government won the heated debate by 15-14 votes.

The possibility of uranium mining has been criticised by environmental groups. Earlier, a group of non-governmental organisations warned uranium mining in Greenland could threaten the Arctic region's pristine ecological system.