Ocean Cable to Europe on the agenda and Greenland comes into the foray

The Arctic Circle Assembly was held in Mid-October with 1,400 participants and 400 speakers from 50 countries

The Arctic Circle Assembly – Hringborð Norðurslóða – was held at Harpa Conference Centre between 14th-17th

October 2021 with 1,400 participants despite the Covid pandemic, though participants needed to provide a negative result from a

COVID-19 test. The Assembly was first held 2013 and has led to Iceland’s leading role in discussion and debate on the Arctic. For the first few years, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson was still serving as President of Iceland and, even though he did not run for Presidency in 2016, the Arctic Circle Assembly has grown in stature year by year. The Assembly is the only annual international forum held in Iceland and both Iceland and Ólafur

Ragnar have received much acclaim for staging the Assembly. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

400 speakers from 50 countries

Four hundred speakers from 50 countries took to the stage. Scientists and opinion leaders from all corners of the earth. Greenland presented its intentions to build hydroelectric power plants and lay ocean cables across the Atlantic via Iceland all the way to Europe. The European Union presented its new environmental and fisheries policies and the Biden administration presented the new US policy on environment, as the US is again participating in the Paris Accord. Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir introduced Iceland’s plan for a Green Economy to 2030. Iceland’s emphasis will be on green energy in transport, decrease of carbon emissions and CO2 capture.

Electricity to Europe

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson claims that Iceland should explore the possibility of an ocean-cable, selling sustainable electricity to Europe. However, Greenland might take the lead and lay its own cable to Europe via Iceland and Faroe Islands. Ólafur Ragnar pointed to Norway providing electricity to Germany, the UK and the Netherlands. The Norwegians had proven that oceancables are technically viable.

“We have to explore these possibilities, as the Norwegians have proven that this is the way to provide Europe with sustainable green energy”, Ólafur Ragnar said in an interview with Icelandic TV station, RÚV. “If we continue resisting laying a cable across the Atlantic, I think our problem in Iceland will be that, when the Greenlanders come knocking on our doors, they will want to lay a cable via Iceland to Great Britain and on to Europe, as they have one of the world’s greatest hydroelectric reserves in the Western World”, the former President said.

The Icelanders are confronted with the key question of whether to cooperate with the Greenlanders and the Faroes or: “Are we just going to say: Dear friends, No, we just want to keep the energy for ourselves”, Ólafur Ragnar said and continued, “Should we utilize hydroelectric/geothermal power? People need to realize that the energyconsuming modern technology people use being on the internet, YouTube, Instagram and the rest, has to be sustainable. We will have to build Data Centres powered by sustainable energy. If people want to be on the internet, communicating, seeking information, then we need to harness hydroelectricity and geothermal power”.

Regarding the Assembly, the former President said, “I believe that this Assembly affirmed Iceland as the world’s centre of discussion and cooperation on the Arctic”. -HH. Photo: Páll Stefánsson