Ávarp Guðlaugs Þórs Þórðarsonar umhverfis-, orku- og loftslagsráðherra á viðburði Arctic Circle um þriðja pólinn - ávarpið er á ensku
I am sorry that I am not with you here in person now, at COP 27. I am at home by doctor‘s orders, with a broken ankle. Instead, I send you my regards from Reykjavík, the northernmost capital city of the world, to warm and sunny Sharm-el-Sheikh.
Indeed, it was here in Reykjavík that the Third Pole was discussed at the recent Arctic Circle conference in October. The challenges that the Arctic faces are in many ways similar to the challenges confronting the mountainous heart of Asia. Climate change is causing ice to retreat and glaciers to shrink. Mountain slopes become more unstable, with dangers of landslides increasing. These changes affect people‘s security, livelihoods and societies.
The changes are felt not only within the regions, but outside them as well. All coastal regions are threatened by the melting of the Greenland glacier. Water security for a sizable part of humanity depends directly on the fate of Third Pole glaciers, which feed many of the great rivers of Asia. The polar regions are vital for the health of the planet, even if many see them as remote from the Earth‘s main centres of population. Indeed, many of the most drastic impacts of global warming will be triggered by melting ice at the Poles.
Science has given the frozen realm of Planet Earth the name cryosphere. The changes in the cryosphere are perhaps the most visible signs of global warming, and the most alarming signals we are receiving.
The changes in the cryosphere will decide the fate of big parts of our planet. The message of the cryosphere should help us focus on the task ahead. Our chances of preventing the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the irreversible melting of the Greenland Ice Cap are vastly greater if we manage to keep warming within 1.5 degrees Celcius than if we reach 2 degrees or more. This fact alone should inspire us to cut emissions and work for a clean transformation of our industries and all sectors.
The Third Pole will also be greatly helped by a focused effort to halt warming within the 1.5 degree goal. Scientists say that some mid-latitude glaciers could survive and rebound at 1.5 degrees, but will almost certainly disappear if we overshoot 2 degrees. Over two billion people depend on the icy mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region for their water-related needs. There is much at stake here.
I am happy to see the Third Pole dialogue continue here at COP27. I am also delighted to know that this discussion will be continued, and given a boost by the host of next year‘s climate summit, the United Arab Emirates. Iceland takes a keen interest in the Third Pole process, for the reasons I have explained before, and because we see an opportunity for constructive dialogue on the Third Pole, in a similar way that we have built up in the Arctic region in the last few decades.
I wish you good progress in this dialogue and at COP27. Thank you,