Ávarp umhverfisráðherra á ráðstefnunni Driving Sustainability

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Scientists have warned that global warming is real, that it is happening right now and about to get much worse unless we halt the emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Just recently the Icelandic Scientific Committee on Climate Change  reported to me on the impact climate change will have on our country. The principal conclusion reached by the Scientific Committee is that the impact of climate change is already being felt in Iceland and that foreseeable climate changes will have a considerable impact. 

I would like to mention two examples of the effects climate change can have on Iceland, its nature and economy.

All glaciers in Iceland that are not specifically surge glaciers have retreated dramatically in recent years and they may be expected to retreat quickly throughout this century. One of our largest glaciers, Langjökull, will completely disappear by the middle of the next century and the biggest glacier, Vatnajökull, will retreat to its highest altitude. Discharge from the glaciers will greatly increase in the first half of this century and then decrease due to their continued decline. 

The distribution and size of fish stocks in the sea around Iceland has changed in recent years because of climate change. Several species of fish have retreated in face of the warmth while twenty-six new species of fish have been caught in Icelandic waters, species that appear to be increasing their range to the north due to the warming.

Both of these examples show that climate change will cause great uncertainty for Iceland’s most important industries, fisheries and  energy.

In order to minimize the adverse effects of climate change,  it is of paramount importance that a global agreement will be reached on deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions with participation of all major emittors in the ongoing negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.  

The Icelandic government has adopted a long-term goal of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 75% by 2050, compared to 1990. It is necessary to lay a strong foundation for these goals and to prioritize measures available according to effectiveness and economic efficiency. A group of experts that I appointed to perform sectoral analysis and assess different options to mitigate climate change in Iceland will soon report its results. This work will be of key importance for us in setting specific long and short term goals for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the future.

Even though we have a very high share of renewable energy here in Iceland, with all our electricity and heating being provided by renewables, transport is clearly a sector where Iceland is doing no better than other industrialised countries.

Transport accounted for 28% of CO2 emissions in Iceland in 2006 and figures show that these emissions increased by 15% between the years 2005 and 2006. Of all the countries in the European-Economic-Area, Iceland has the highest average emission from new cars and we rank among the highest in passenger cars per capita.  The government has set financial incentives for low- and zero-emission cars and new report from the ministry of finance suggests that emissions control should be a central objective in our policy of taxing vehicles and fuels. It is my opinion that if we want real change we need to make emissions control a central objective in our policy of taxing vehicles and fuels.

It will take some time to reverse the trend in the transport sector here in Iceland and start seeing significant cuts. We need cooperation between government, business and the general public if we are to move Iceland along the road to more sustainable transport with its positive economic effect. We have climate-friendly energy and we have scientists and entrepreneurs who are adamant about advancing clean technology. And we are fortunate enough to be able to provide carbon-free electricity to the entire car-fleet of the Reykjavík area, without having to construct new power plants, if it converted to plug-in hybrid technology and reloaded at night.

Transport is a priority in cutting emissions here in Iceland and we have the possibility to do great things in that sector. We have supported research in hydrogen and other fields and now we see that cars that run on methane are growing in popularity on the streets of Reykjavík.

It is my conviction that the government should not pick winners, but I must confess that at this moment, electricity seems to have the upper hand. Plug-in hybrids and the electric car could move Iceland so much closer to the goal of being a carbon-neutral society. I hope that this informative conference can help to guide us on that journey.