Opnunarávarp á Arctic Frontiers norðurslóðaráðstefnunni

2021 Arctic Frontiers
The Arctic Council: 25 years of Peace and Cooperation
A high-level panel on the occasion of the Arctic Council´s Anniversary

Let me start by thanking you for having me, it´s an honour to be with you here today to discuss the great achievements and collaboration that have been made throughout the 25 years of Arctic Council history. It would of course have been preferable to be together in person but as you all know that is impossible now as we fight this pandemic that has brought the world to a standstill while forcing us to rethink everything we took for granted in our day to day lives less than a year ago. However, I remain hopeful that the new year will bring back some normality again with promising vaccination programmes and increased knowledge of the pandemic.

Fighting the pandemic has proved challenging in Arctic communities, just like anywhere else in the world. However, it is not only the pandemic that has brought its challenges to our region in the north. Climate change has already had a huge impact on many Arctic communities with a record rise in average temperature, melting of the ice caps and ocean acidification. We will need a strong adaptation in the Arctic to the unavoidable changes in our natural environment, but that is exactly what we, the people of the Arctic, have shown to be capable of throughout the years. Many of us living in the Arctic region have had to learn, through generations, to live and adapt to extremely harsh weather conditions often along with isolation in hard-to-reach areas. Despite the hardship there are thriving communities in the Arctic. 

Iceland is an example of one of those communities. Sustainable use of natural resources transformed Iceland, in less than a century, from being one of the poorest countries in Europe into one of its most affluent. A century ago, brave Icelandic innovators pioneered the heating of Reykjavík households by using geothermal district heating. It was a difficult and costly decision for a poor, newly sovereign country. Thanks to these visionaries’ first step, the well-being of our communities was secured. Over reliance on fossil fuels – coal and oil – for district heating, which importance cannot be overstated when you live in a cold climate, evaporated. Today this decision continues to support Iceland’s efforts to reach its Paris climate agreement targets. 

The same can be said about Iceland’s fishing industry. In the mid-70’s, after gaining full control over our Exclusive Economic Zone, we continued overfishing most of our stocks. We quickly discovered however that the ocean was not a bottomless source of riches. This realization led to the abolition of almost all unrestricted fisheries and paved the way for our present strict quota-set fisheries management system. Firmly anchored in science, it secures sustainable and profitable fisheries, unshackled from the need for subsidies.

ow the introduction of Blue BioEconomy in recent years has had significant positive societal effects in Iceland. Through innovation and biotechnological solutions, we have learned that it is possible to increase exponentially the utilization level and value of biomass brought ashore. Some Icelandic companies have even managed to eliminate biomass-waste from living marine catches. Only a few years ago, this idea would have been thought of as revolutionary. Today, it is simply considered a sensible business practice.

As most of you know Iceland has chaired the Arctic Council for the past two years and will continue to do so until May when we hand the gavel over to Russia. Our overarching chairmanship theme “Together Towards a Sustainable Arctic” ties in well with the councils founding mandate of sustainable development. I sometimes say that the commodities of the Arctic Council are facts and science. Scientific cooperation is an essential component in ensuring sustainability in the Arctic region. This also holds true for sustainable use of natural resources. It is imperative for us to strike a balance between the three pillars of sustainability, social inclusion, environmental protection and economic growth. Through the Arctic Council and its Permanent Participants and working groups arctic scientific research and cooperation is blossoming, benefiting our communities and helping them thrive in a sustainable way. 

Thank you again for having me and I look forward to a fruitful discussion with my colleagues here today.