Opening remarks by Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources - All Aboard! Tackling Polar Ocean Acidification – Side Event at COP25

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is an honour for me to deliver some opening remarks at this Event.

The Arctic is facing rapid and unprecedented change, and the Arctic Council is the premier political forum to address the many issues facing the eight Arctic countries and the indigenous peoples of the High North. Iceland also takes very seriously any changes in the marine environment. Fisheries are a mainstay of Iceland‘s economy. Any threat to the marine environment and ecosystems is of concern to Icelandic society.

Let my also say that I am happy to be here in the Cryosphere Pavilion today. Chile has in its presidency put emphasis on the oceans and also on what scientists call the cryosphere, which is the technical term for the frozen realm of our planet – glaciers, sea ice, permafrost. This has been called the Blue COP, but it is also a Cool COP. And nowhere is this meeting cooler than here, in the Cryosphere Pavilion.

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Perhaps nowhere can the impacts of a changing climate be seen more clearly than in the Arctic. The warming of the Arctic has been about twice the global average. And the changes are more visible than in most places. Sea ice has retreated dramatically in recent decades. Arctic and sub-Arctic glaciers are retreating. In Iceland, we have lost about 50 small glaciers, out of some 300 in total, since 2000. A warming of 2 degrees Celcius or more will most probably in the long term mean Iceland without ice.

Other changes are less visible. That does not mean they are less important. The effects of a changing climate on the oceans are vast. And we are only now starting to realize how profound these changes are, thanks to researchers like we will hear speak at this event.

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It could be said that the ocean is an unsung hero in the saga of our changing climate. It absorbs most of the increased heat in the atmosphere. It also takes up a quarter or so of the carbon dioxide that humankind pumps into the atmosphere. Without the sea, the atmosphere would have warmed much faster.

But this service comes with a cost. Warming seas affect many marine organisms, from tiny plankton to huge coral reefs. And then we have ocean acidification – a problem that sounds technical and hard to grasp, but should concern all of us.

In short, the absorption of CO2 into marine waters causes a change in chemistry and the pH of the sea. And many marine organisms are very sensitive to such changes. Mass extinctions of marine life have been tied to acidification events in the past. At current rates we are soon approaching acidification levels which have not been seen in 55 million years – at a time of one of Earth‘s big mass extinction events. If that sounds alarming, then it is because it is alarming. We are conducting a dangerous experiment with life in the sea.

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We humans are a landlubber species. We know much less about the ocean than about dry land. It is often said that we have mapped the topography of the Moon and even of Mars better than that of the ocean floor.

Science is moving our frontier of knowledge in this respect. We understand ocean acidification much better now than a few decades ago, when it was first mentioned as a concern. We know that acidification is a threat to species such as shellfish and corals. Tropical coral reefs are the richest marine ecosystems on Earth, and are currently under severe stress.

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But the tropics are not the only region we should worry about. Some of the fastest rates of ocean acidification anywhere are occurring in the Arctic; including in the waters north of my country, Iceland. Change is already evident in the Arctic Ocean.

At the global level, the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere, published just a few months ago, has advanced our knowledge on the effects of environmental changes on marine life and systems. At the Arctic regional level, the Arctic Council has advanced important work on changes in the high north, including the Arctic Ocean Acidification report, conducted by AMAP, one of the Council‘s working groups. We will hear about this important work at this event.

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Acidification will affect many organisms that are important in the marine web of life. Maybe we feel disconnected from the plight of plankton and clams in changing Arctic waters. We shouldn‘t. Science tells us that the changes underway can affect fisheries and the economies and societies in the High North.

Many think of the Arctic as a near-pristine and empty wilderness. Indeed, much of it is uninhabited, with unique ecosystems and natural wonders. As a Minister for the Environment, I would like to see us conserving this heritage. We need more natural parks and protected areas on a planet transformed by human activity.

But the Arctic is also a place which some 4 million people call home. It is a region of rich heritage and cultural diversity. It is the ancestral home of indigenous peoples who have learned to live on the bounty of Arctic waters, by ingenuity and wisdom gathered throughout millenia.

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We have advanced our knowledge, in part by the efforts of the scientists that are giving presentations here, and the organizations they represent. Still, many questions remain. I am alarmed at the findings of AMAP and others that fisheries can be severely affected by ocean acidification. Fisheries is a pillar of the Icelandic economy. But this concerns not only the inhabitants of the High North. The Arctic and subarctic regions yield a tenth of global commercial catch of fish.

I recently announced increased government support for research and monitoring ocean acidification in Icelandic waters, including the likely impact on marine life. This is in line with the recommendations of AMAP.

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The Nordic environment ministers have taken two common measures this year to better conserve the oceans. First at our meeting in Reykjavík in April we signed a declaration to support and push for the establishment of an international treaty on plastic pollution and plastic release to the oceans, and secondly in October we all signed a declaration on the climate and the oceans emphasizing the importance of the oceans, of carbon neutrality, of marine protected areas, and for more action.

Most importantly, we should avoid doing more harm. The Arctic and the oceans are undergoing vast change due to emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. We need to halt and reduce emissions. This can not be stressed enough. This is a matter of urgency, for the Arctic and for planet Earth. We need to do this, each and every country, and we need to do this together. We do need „All aboard“. The Arctic is sounding a global alarm. We should all listen, and we should all act.

Thank you,