07.08.16 - Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Greenland

By Mads Nordlund
She was received by Greenland’s Prime Minister Hans Enoksen and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen who accompanied Merkel on her two day excursion to the ice. They wanted to get a picture for themselves of the direct consequences of global warming. The melting of Ilulissat’s glacier has become a symbol for climate change. At the end of her visit, Merkel officially invited Hans Enoksen to Germany.



The Chancellor announced to further increase her efforts for the better protection of the environment after her visit. On 23rd/24st August the German coalition government is putting together a roadmap for the coming months at the German town of Meseberg. Climate change and an energy-saving-scheme will be at the heart of these discussions, that could lead to a thorough change in Germany’s environmental policy. Already this year Angela Merkel intends to make further use of her G8-presidency by pushing more strongly for global climate protection measures. At the UN-climate-conference in Bali in December Germany will support a cut of global CO2-emissions by 50 per cent before the year 2050.

Ilulissat’s glacier Sermeq Kujalleq is the most productive one in the northern hemisphere. A flow of about twenty yards per day produces an ice volume of 35 km3. These vast masses of ice that split from the glacier are pushed through the Ice Fjord at Ilulissat which is 40 kilometres long and 7 kilometres wide.. Due to its importance for scientific research, the Ice Fjord was recognised as part of UNESCO’s world cultural heritage scheme in 2004. In the past five years, however, the glacier has retreated by fifteen kilometres, which is more than in the previous fifty years put together.



In spite of the melting ice, Ilulissat and the Disco Bay remain an ever more popular tourist destination. The number of tourists is constantly increasing although many ask whether their flight to Greenland contributes to the process of global warming. It must be said though that the number of flights to and from Greenland in a whole year cannot compare to the number of flights in Europe or the United States on any given morning. The creation of a sustainable tourism sector and the protection of the enviroment are key principles to Greenland’s population. So visitors to Ilulissat can actually experience for themselves the consequences of global warming. It is hoped that this experience also contributes to an increased awareness and a change of behaviour when visitors return home.

While many politicians are concerned about the melting ice, Greenland’s Prime Minister Enoksen also expresses a positive aspect: The retreating ice and higher temperatures create a better environment for agricultural activities, which is positive for Greenland’s people.