The government of Canada recently released a new Arctic Foreign Policy (the “Policy”) which includes some nuggets about minerals and critical minerals.
Under the heading “Climate change: the overarching threat”, the Policy, after stating that climate change is especially acute in the North, adds the following:
In parallel, climate change is driving interest in the Arctic as a sustainable and reliable source of critical minerals, such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements integral to the transition to a low-carbon economy. For Canada and its allies, the Arctic’s resource potential provides an opportunity to diversify critical mineral production in partnership with territorial and provincial governments, Arctic and northern Indigenous Peoples, and local communities. This must be done carefully, respecting the livelihoods of local communities.
The Policy adds that the Canadian government will increase its support for bilateral and regional cooperation with the Nordic countries in, among other areas, Arctic science and technology, climate change, and natural resources.
Interestingly, while the government of Canada does state that critical minerals are key to the global energy transition[1], the Policy says that Canada is doing its part to address biodiversity loss and advance conservation domestically and globally and “to work toward conserving 30% of its lands and oceans by 2030". The Policy goes on to say that Canada “supports, in the absence of both a comprehensive understanding of seabed mining’s environmental impacts and a robust regulatory regime, a moratorium on commercial seabed mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction, including in the central Arctic Ocean”. In a sense, although the Policy was perhaps intended to promote exploration and mining of critical minerals, it also creates certain restrictions which may hinder that outcome.
Interestingly, the Policy does emphasize the importance of strengthening Canada's partnership with allies such as the United States in important areas of national interests, including critical minerals, especially with Alaska in the West Arctic and with Greenland (the Kingdom of Denmark) in the East Arctic, but the Policy is already probably in need of a reset owing to President Trump’s very public musing about annexing or purchasing Greenland. Since taking office, President Trump has clearly taken decisive measures to implement his action plan and campaign promises, and the world will definitely be watching as the story progresses.
