Not for Sale: How International Law Protects Greenland’s Indigenous Self-Determination
Embedded in the international legal regime is the right of self-determination, which focuses on giving a voice to the people instead of the states in deciding political status and territorial sovereignty.[i] Post World War 2, during the era of decolonization, these rights took center stage, and today they are included in treaties, customary international law, and the continued shift of the global community towards further recognition of indigenous people’s rights.[ii] Greenland is a great reflection of these evolving norms, and how they restrict external claims to sovereignty and block attempts to alter their territorial status without the consent of the people of Greenland.[iii] The core of these legal rights are laid out in the U.N. charter and in key human rights covenants, as well as indigenous specific instruments recognizing political autonomy and consent as legal requirements.
The right of self-determination is articulated in Article 1(2) of the U.N. Charter, which identifies respect for the “equal rights and self-determination of peoples” as one of the central purposes of the United Nations.[iv] This right is further laid out in Article 55 of the U.N. Charter which provides standard of treatment and Articles 1 and 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) which have binding authority on states which have ratified them, affirming that all peoples may freely determine their political status and pursue their economic, social, and cultural development.[v] The Human Rights Committee confirmed that this right imposes continuous duties on states to promote the realization of the right of self-determination, as well as requiring states to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of other states.[vi] The rights of Indigenous Peoples are further protected under U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and the concept of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), which requires the consent of peoples affected before commencing an action that could greatly impact the lands and rights of indigenous peoples.[vii]
Greenland’s historical status as a former Danish colony situates it squarely within this legal framework. The U.N. General Assembly’s Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples establishes that colonial peoples possess an inherent right to independence and freedom from external domination, as well as encourages immediate steps to transfer all powers to the peoples of territories with their freely expressed will and desire.[viii] Greenland’s predominantly Inuit population has long been recognized as a distinct “people” under international law, and UNDRIP has emphasized that indigenous self-determination is not exhausted by formal decolonization or constitutional integration.[ix] Denmark has taken steps to gradually transfer authority to the Greenlandic peoples, through instruments such as Greenland Self-Government Act of 2009 and the 2023 draft constitution, holding referendums to gauge a desire for self-rule, and increasingly shifting control over institutions to the people themselves.[x]
Considering the legal rights of Greenland and its people, President Donald Trump’s repeated public statements saying he wants to “buy” Greenland raises immediate concerns.[xi] International law does not recognize the acquisition of territory through purchase absent the free, prior, and informed consent of the people inhabiting the territory, especially where indigenous self-determination is implicated.[xii] The U.N. Charter’s prohibition on the use of the coercion, along with the right to self-determination guaranteed by the ICCPR, blocks any efforts to force Greenland into compliance using economic pressure or unilateral negotiation.[xiii] U.N. human rights experts have expressly warned that any effort to change Greenland’s political status without the consent of its people would violate international law.[xiv]
As part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland enjoys protections under NATO, and any attack would require a response from other members.[xv] Since the United States is also a member of NATO, this could raise serious alliance obligations and credibility concerns, which European officials have warning could undermine NATO itself by showing a disrespect for the sovereignty of other states.[xvi] If the right to self-determination and the connected international law was globally seen as something to be disregarded, this could embolden other countries to assert their own territorial claims.[xvii] We have already seen Russia challenging the borders of Ukraine, and China continuously asserting its own claims on Taiwan, and the ongoing territorial dispute between Israel and Palestine.[xviii] Weakening these principles would undermine the entire international legal regime and open up states everywhere to challenges to their own sovereignty.
Greenland thus demonstrates how modern international law places indigenous self-determination at the core of territorial legitimacy. Its future is not a matter for external negotiation or purchase, but a legal question that should be reserved to the Greenlandic people alone.
Ariel Hanover is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLIX.
[i] See U.N. Charter arts. 1(2), 55; See also Human Rights Comm., General Comment No. 12, Article 1 (Right to Self-Determination), ¶ 1, U.N. Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (Vol. I) (Mar. 13, 1984), https://www.refworld.org/legal/general/hrc/1984/en/11735.
[ii] See Inuit, Greenland, and Self-Determination, Verfassungsblog (Jan. 2026), https://verfassungsblog.de/inuit-greenland/; See also Ashley Deeks, Legal Obstacles to U.S. Acquisition of Greenland, Just Security (Jan. 2026), https://www.justsecurity.org/129374/legal-obstacles-us-greenland/.
[iii] See G.A. Res. 61/295 U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, art. 3 (Sept. 13, 2007), https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html.
[iv] U.N. Charter art. 1(2).
[v] See U.N. Charter art. 55; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights arts. 1, 2, Mar. 23, 1973, 999 U.N.T.S. 171; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights arts. 1, 2, Dec. 16, 1966, 993 U.N.T.S. 3.
[vi] See Human Rights Comm., supra note 1, ¶¶ 1–6.
[vii] See Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Free, Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples (Sept.2013), https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/FreePriorandInformedConsent.pdf; see also United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, supra note 4, arts. 3–4.
[viii] See G.A. Res. 1514 (XV), Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (Dec. 14, 1960), https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/declaration-granting-independence-colonial-countries-and-peoples.
[ix] Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Right to Self-Determination, https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-self-determination; Inuit, Greenland, and Self-Determination, supra note 2.; Human Rights Comm., supra note 1.
[x] See Prime Minister’s Office (Den.), Greenland and the Unity of the Realm, https://english.stm.dk/the-prime-ministers-office/the-unity-of-the-realm/greenland/; See also Inuit, Greenland, and Self-Determination, supra note 2; Int’l Work Grp. for Indigenous Affs., Self-Rule in Greenland: Towards the World’s First Independent Inuit State (2011), https://iwgia.org/en/resources/publications/2951-self-rule-in-greenland-towards-the-worlds-first-independent-inuit-state.html.
[xi] Edward Alden, Trump Claims Greenland Compromise, Council on Foreign Relations (Jan. 2026), https://www.cfr.org/articles/trump-claims-greenland-compromise.
[xii] See Deeks, supra note 2.
[xiii] See U.N. Charter art. 2(4); ICCPR, supra note 6, art. 1.
[xiv]See U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Experts Urge the United States to Respect International Law and Greenland’s Right to Self-Determination (Jan. 2026), https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/01/greenland-un-experts-urge-united-states-respect-international-law-and-right.
[xv] See Jacopo Barigazzi, It’s the End of NATO if Donald Trump Invades Greenland, EU Commissioner Warns, Politico Europe (Jan. 12, 2026), https://www.politico.eu/article/its-the-end-of-nato-if-donald-trump-invades-greenland-eu-commissioner-andrius-kubilius-warns/.
[xvi] See European Parliament Leaders Unequivocally Support Greenland and Denmark, Eur. Parl. Press Release (Jan. 13, 2026), https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20260113IPR32390/ep-group-leaders-unequivocally-support-greenland-and-denmark; See also Greenland and U.S. Annexation Threats, Verfassungsblog (Jan. 2026), https://verfassungsblog.de/greenland-and-us-annexation-threats/.
[xvii] See Greenland Between Decolonization and the U.S., JusticeInfo.net (2026), https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/154552-greenland-between-decolonization-the-us-and-international-responses.html.
[xviii] See Id.
This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.