Hello everyone and thank you for inviting me to speak here. These are really bizarre times that we are living right now. I hope you are all watching safely from your homes or offices.

I want to compliment the team behind the Arctic Observing Summit on using technical solutions and making the summit happen despite the circumstances. I myself am recording this in quarantine during my daily walk outside.

We are faced with this unprecedented situation globally and together we must take joint measures to fight it. I truly believe that we can learn from this situation to fight other global crises facing us - now and in the future.

The importance of research, observing and monitoring

We are living the age of climate change and deteriorating nature. Of rising sea levels and diminished biodiversity. And the unprecedented system-scale environmental change that is taking place in the Arctic and other sensitive areas globally, requires action to be taken.

In my opinion Arctic research, observing and monitoring is extremely important for that action to be taken. And it’s a field that is just going to become even more important in the coming years. Even though we are all very focused on the crisis of the coronavirus right now, in the meantime, there is another crisis that isn’t going anywhere. And that’s the climate crisis.

Under the leadership of our Prime Minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, three societal challenges have been identified for policy making in science and technology. These societal challenges will get much more attention in the next few years, e.g. through increased funding. One of these societal challenges is climate and environmental change.

In my time in office as the Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources in Iceland, I have put emphasis on supporting and strengthening research and monitoring of the natural world. Our action in fighting the climate crisis must include adaptation, forecasting, planning and development of mitigation strategies.

To give you an example, my ministry has increased the budget of The Icelandic Meteorological Office for researching avalanches, landslides, rising sea levels and melting glaciers. Last year I also allocated funding to The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute of Iceland, to help increase research on the acidification of the ocean. In Iceland, we are fortunate to have one of the longest series of data on the changes in acidity of the sea caused by increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. What is new in this is that we now are also supporting research on the impacts of acidification on the biota.

We are also putting considerable funding into monitoring the impact of tourism on nature, in protected areas in particular. This work is led by The Icelandic Institute of Natural History in cooperation with eight Nature Research Centers situated all over the country as well as those institutes that manage protected areas in Iceland. This adds to increased knowledge on Arctic systems without doubt.

But monitoring and researching changes in the environment is one thing, mediating the acquired information is another. And in this regard, I want to tell you about a project that I am particularly proud of. It’s called Melting glaciers, the goal of which is to increase awareness about climate change. And Icelandic glaciers are a natural laboratory to study climate change.

Guests visiting Vatnajökull National Park are now given the chance, through guided tours, website and digital media, to better understand what glacial research has shown. The project is done in cooperation between various research institutes and centers here in Iceland led by Vatnajökull National Park and The Icelandic Meteorological Office.

When people have knowledge and understanding – they are more likely to take positive action for our common future.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office

Spring equinox was just a few days ago - and that was a relief to us Icelanders. We’ve had a rough winter and we find solace in knowing that the months ahead will be a lot brighter and maybe just a little bit warmer. During this very rough winter we’ve had snowstorms, avalanches, earthquakes and perhaps pending eruptions. But while this was all going on, I felt that Icelanders were privileged to have The Icelandic Meteorological Office in their service.

An institution that not only tells us what kind of weather to expect tomorrow but also monitors earthquakes and volcanos and calculates the chances of avalanches. Just to mention a few. One of the main purposes of the Icelandic Met Office is to gather and preserve data and knowledge about the development of natural processes in Iceland, such as climate change, glacier changes and crustal movements. All this is important for Arctic research and monitoring.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate The Icelandic Met Office on its centennial of service to Icelanders.

Rif Field Station

I also want to tell you about Arctic research on a smaller scale. The Rif Field Station is a small self-governing institution that promotes ecological research and monitoring in the northeast of Iceland.

They focus on the low Arctic area of Melrakkaslétta (which can be translated as the Plains of the Arctic fox). They collect, keep track and share information on the area’s natural environment.

Rif Field Station is a member of INTERACT (International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic) and was chosen by the network as one of the stations to implement and test the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program, CBMP. As a result, Rif Field Station has an ambitious research and monitoring plan based on the CBMP protocols.

Small scale projects like these make a difference in not only monitoring the impact of human activity and climate change on low Arctic areas, but also play a vital part in rural development. Rif Field Station offers facilities for scientists and researchers, such as university groups, for various research and monitoring projects. I really hope we can continue supporting this work in the future.

Stefánsson Arctic Institute

Last but not least I would like to mention the contribution of Stefánsson´s Arctic Institute, located in Akureyri. (Where we would have met in person, if things were normal). It’s one of the smallest institutions under my ministry and is named after Vilhjálmur Stefánsson an Icelandic-American explorer, anthropologist and a prolific writer who was often referred to as the Prophet of the North.

His legacy remains intimately connected to current issues of human-environmental relations, sustainable use of natural resources, and social and cultural viability in the Arctic region. His legacy is especially important for what he did to change the image of the Arctic, moving it from the periphery of being perceived as a bleak frozen wasteland towards a center of international significance and attention. His journeys and successes are among the marvels of Arctic exploration.

The Stefansson Arctic Institute is a research institute that takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding human-environment relations in the Circumpolar Arctic. Particular emphasis is on research and scientific assessments concerning economic systems and human development, marine-resource governance, political ecology of agricultural systems, and the impacts of and adaptation to past and present climate change. The research of the Stefánsson´s Institute has really contributed to our understanding of these systems.

Iceland’s Climate Commitments

When I took office, roughly two years ago, I was determined to put climate related work first. Shortly after, me and my fellow ministers put forward an ambitious Climate Action Plan and just in a few weeks we’ll be publishing an updated version of that plan.

We have been focusing on replacing fossil fuels with electricity in the transport sector and we’ve greatly increased carbon sequestration with forestry, wetland restoration and reclamation of degraded land. We remain committed to cutting our emissions by 40% by the year 2030 and by the year 2040 Iceland is to be carbon neutral.

Now, I very much hope you’ll have a good and productive summit. I wish you all the best on your important work. Thank you for having me and stay safe.