Greenland, the world’s largest island, is located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean, northeast of North America. Its vast ice sheet, which covers 80% of the territory, stores around 2.8 million km³ of freshwater—nearly 10% of the world’s reserves. These glaciers influence ocean currents and are a sensitive indicator of global warming: their rapid melting contributes to rising sea levels.
Its Arctic biodiversity, rich yet vulnerable, includes polar bears, seals, musk oxen, cetaceans and, less well known, more than 500 species of vascular plants, not to mention numerous lichens and mosses. Many of these species are threatened by the retreat of ice and the thawing of permafrost, which releases greenhouse gases.
Greenland’s mineral and energy resources are now attracting the interest of major powers, placing the territory at the heart of global geostrategic issues. These economic and political pressures increase the risks to its fragile ecosystems, highlighting the need to reconcile development with the protection of a territory vital to biodiversity and the global climate.