COP25, Madrid

Intervention by Iceland

Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources

Madame President, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

When I was a child, my grandmother taught me the names of all four glaciers visible from our farm in Iceland. Now, only three are remaining. These are visible changes. Then there are invisible ones.

We sometimes talk about leaving our comfort zone. The impacts of 1 degree warming are already challenging in many parts of the world, but it is just a prelude of things to come. We are indeed leaving our climatic comfort zone.

I ask you to think about the following: If our actions can put us in harm’s way, then other actions can move us away from danger. We humans are capable of amazing achievements. We must tackle the climate crisis with can-do attitude.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Time for action. First, we need to cut emissions immediately. Second, we need long-term strategies and carbon neutrality, and third, we need net negative emissions to follow. We need to scale-up successful actions.

A clean energy revolution is at the center of our global task.

Iceland is blessed with renewable resources. We are almost emission free when it comes to heating and electricity production. Iceland´s third renewable revolution centers on the transport system. Tax incentives encourage people to buy clean cars. The government supports infrastructure for clean energy. New registration for fossil fuel cars will be prohibited in 2030. People have responded. Iceland now has the world’s second highest share of electric cars in total vehicle sales. This is happening right now – real actions. Climate policies can work.

Ladies and gentlemen,

More efforts are needed. Agriculture, shipping and heavy industries are a case in point. Icelandic innovators have designed ships running on climate-friendly energy sources. Icelandic scientists have developed a method which mineralizes CO2 from concentrated emission streams; basically turning CO2 into stone deep under the Earth´s surface. Long-term strategies and well-designed policies are needed here to scale up plausible solutions.

Iceland aims for carbon neutrality by 2040. At the center of long-term strategies and carbon neutrality lies sustainable land use and nature-based solutions. Iceland has significantly stepped up actions in afforestation, revegetation and restoration of drained wetlands. This is a win-win strategy. Synergies. We are strengthening biodiversity and creating jobs in rural areas, as well as moving carbon from the atmosphere to the soil.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The government of Iceland has developed 39 indicators to track the progress of the wellbeing economy. Economic, environmental and social factors will be evaluated. The starting point is building these factors into the next five-year fiscal policy statement.

We continue to see more growth, more consumption, more everything. We, however, cannot satisfy unchecked human greed. We need to focus on wellbeing ahead of consumption. Improved values to run our societies. The wellbeing economy will demand a new type of thinking and redefining priorities. Tackling the climate crisis is a priority for the wellbeing of future generations and calls for action – now.