Greenland Institute of Natural Resources halts new US collaborations

The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources will no longer enter into new research projects with US partners it does not already know, director Josephine Nymand told Greenlandic broadcaster KNR.

Existing collaborations with long-standing US partners will continue, Nymand said, but the institute has also instructed staff to avoid travel to the US for conferences, meetings, or research activities.

The decision follows repeated statements by US President Donald Trump expressing interest in acquiring Greenland and uncertainty over whether the US might consider military action to achieve this. Trump denied such intentions in a January 2026 speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Nymand, a former chair of Greenland’s Research Council who previously advocated for closer US cooperation, said the shift reflects concerns over geopolitical tensions.

The institute, which advises Greenland’s government and municipalities, conducts research on living resources, wildlife, plants, and the environment in and around Greenland through four departments: Mammals and Birds, Fish and Shellfish, Environment and Mineral Resources, and the Greenland Climate Research Centre.