US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken will call for an international effort against climate change and enhanced cooperation in the Arctic during a trip to Greenland next week, the State Department reported on Friday (May 14th).
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This visit is a further step in a tour already announced by the Secretary of State, during which he will attend an Arctic Council meeting in Iceland and hold for the first time a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov.
Antony Blinken will start this trip on Sunday in Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory, two years after former President Donald Trump caused confusion by offering to buy the huge Arctic island. He will discuss Thursday with the leaders of this territory of the "
very strong partnership between the United States and Greenland and our commitment to increase cooperation in the Arctic
", said the spokesman of the American diplomacy Ned Price in a statement. In Copenhagen, the Secretary of State will meet with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen as well as other Danish leaders and entrepreneurs on ways to “
fight the climate crisis
”,in particular through the development of new technologies.
The melting of glaciers caused by climate change is gradually opening the way to new maritime routes in the Arctic, sources of new conflicts between the great powers.
In a speech last month, Antony Blinken accused Russia of "
exploiting this change to try to exercise control over this new space
", including modernizing its bases, and also underlined China's growing presence. in the zone.
Contrary to his predecessor Donald Trump, Joe Biden has made the fight against climate change one of the priorities of his mandate, setting the ambitious goal of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the world's largest economy by half. here 2035.
