For many in the Arctic, it was hard not to see the threats looming over Greenland as a sign of what was to come, said Natan Obed of Canada’s Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. “We understand that we are increasingly in the centre of a geopolitical fight that is not necessarily around our culture or our society, but is in our homeland, in our back yards,” he said.
He pointed to the vast funds that both Russia and China had poured into bolstering ports in and around the Russian Arctic and the quiet scramble to claim the Northwest Passage as climate change transforms the region as examples.
“We know these fights are coming,” said Obed. “So this is the moment to build alliances and strategies and plans to ensure that when those times come, we’re ready for that.”
Publication
The Guardian
Publication Date
February 3, 2026
