The government of Greenland has suspended all oil exploration off its coast, explaining that it “takes the climate crisis seriously.”

The move – celebrated by environmentalists – is particularly noteworthy because Greenland can benefit from oil revenues. The island is beholden to a large annual subsidy from Denmark, which complicates a long desired goal of independence.

Great news: Greenland bans all new oil exploration due to escalating climate emergency and concerns for the fragile arctic environment. Years of creative, peaceful and persistent protest bear fruit. Pic: Greenpeace activists scaling an oil rig off the coast of Greenland in 2011 pic.twitter.com/vHh1dFzDDz

— Greenpeace i Danmark (@greenpeacedk) July 15, 2021

While oil has yet to be drilled there, experts believe that 18 billion barrels of oil lie off Greenland’s west coast.

“The future does not lie in oil. The future belongs to renewable energy, and in that respect we have much more to gain,” the Greenland government said in a statement.

'The government has decided to cease issuing new licenses for oil and gas exploration… for the sake of our nature, for the sake of our fisheries, for the sake of our tourism industry, and to focus our business on sustainable potentials.” https://t.co/yFhz04FEU8

— Ali Sheridan (@AliJSheridan) July 16, 2021

Bloomberg provides context on the historic decision:

The decision to abandon oil exploration comes amid increasingly alarming signs of global warming for Greenlanders. Average sea levels have risen about 9 inches since 1880, and about a quarter of that increase comes from ice melting in the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets, along with land-based glaciers elsewhere, according to a study published in Nature in May.

Greenland has a socialist-led government. Other European nations – including Spain, France, Ireland, and Denmark itself – have also scrapped plan for offshore oil exploration in recent years.