A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

Reconciling Mineral Demand in Greenland with Arctic Realities (Yale e360) 

President Donals Trump’s recent push to access Greenland’s critical minerals faces severe logistical and environmental challenges. While the island possesses 25 of the 60 minerals in high demand in Washington, Greenland has fewer than 100 miles of roads, a tiny labor force, 16 small ports, and inconsistent electricity. Its unique geography and harsh conditions—including minus 40°F temperatures, high winds that ground helicopters, and pack ice which hinders ships—will require potentially costly new extraction technologies. Indeed, present conditions already make extraction five to ten times more expensive than in temperate regions. 

 The number of active mines on the island illustrates these points. Despite over 200 mining exploration licenses, Greenland boasts only two working mines. And as rapid Arctic climate change further complicates mining viability due to slush avalanches and rockslides, experts question the economic rationale of Greenland mining when better alternatives exist in other locales. 

READ | Research in a Changing Arctic Must be Prioritized 

Cambodian Canal Mega-Project Poses Risks for Coastal Communities (Mongabay) 

The Funan Techo Canal project is a 180-kilometer waterway that will connect Cambodia’s Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand through four provinces at a cost of a nearly $1.2 billion. Approved in 2023 and backed by Chinese financing, the new passage aims to reduce Cambodia’s shipping costs and reduce its reliance on Vietnamese ports by up to 70%. Coastal fishing communities in Kep province argue that they face existential threats from the project, which will terminate at a new port where the canal meets the sea.  

Fishers in Kep largely lack official land titles, and they depend entirely on marine resources. They fear that the project will compel their mass eviction without compensation, and result in both a loss of access to fishing grounds due to deep shipping lanes, and ecosystem destruction from seabed dredging, sedimentation, and pollution. Cambodia’s government has provided almost no information to affected communities, which has created widespread fear and uncertainty among the estimated 11,525 people who are expected to feel the impact of the canal. And despite claims of transparent consultation with residents, those who live along the planned route say they have received no direct communication about displacement, compensation, or environmental impacts. 

READ | Lower Mekong Governments and Development Partners Seek to Improve Water Data Sharing 

Conflict Drives an Unexpected Energy Transition in Ukraine (Yale e360) 

Russia has systematically targeted Ukraine’s centralized fossil fuel power plants, substations, and transmission lines in its four-year war against that nation. These attacks have caused over $56 billion in damage, and left half of the country’s energy infrastructure destroyed. In response, Ukraine now rapidly deploys decentralized renewable systems as a security strategy. It is a tactic with broader implications for the country’s energy future.  

The steps taken to respond to Russian attacks are wide-ranging. Ukraine is shifting from vulnerable large plants to distributed renewables (rooftop solar panels, wind farms, and microgrids with battery storage) to keep hospitals, schools, and public facilities operational during blackouts. Battery storage deployment has been remarkably fast; projects that take two years in Europe are completed in six months in Ukraine. Since the invasion, the country also has added over 3 gigawatts of renewable capacity, positioning it as one of Eastern Europe’s fastest-developing renewable markets. 

READ | What Asia Can Learn from Ukraine’s Quest for Energy Security