Is the Icelandic Parliament aiming for more pollution?

The Althingi Environmental committee decided yesterday to adopt the goal that Icelanders will become even greater polluters than before based on article 14/CP.7 of the Kyoto protocol (the Icelandic article). This became a fact when the committee agreed upon the parliamentary proposal of the committee-majority of the Progressive and the Independence parties that relates to the so called “Icelandic interests” in global warming affairs. The idea of the committee by agreeing to the proposal is to ensure that the Icelandic government will push for the prolongation of the “Icelandic article” in the negotiations continuing on behalf of the UN about the UNFCC, otherwise termed the Kyoto protocol in spite of the fact that Iceland has signed commitments about reducing the release of greenhouse gases by 25-40% before year 2020.

Thought processes dating from year 2007 are obviously still at work in the minds of those who think that prolonging the “Icelandic article” is anything but a huge mistake, as this idea is in no relation to what is happening in Icelandic society today especially economically. A positive economic environment and access to favorable loans must be one of the preconditions for the usefulness of any such article. Carbon release quotas are becoming marketable commodities, and therefore even for just economic reasons it is wrong of the government to try to get foreign polluting corporations to come to Iceland giving them release quotas and selling them cheap energy at the lowest energy prices.

The UN Framework programme ends in 2012 and therefore negotiations are being conducted among the world’s nations on continuing the programme with the goal of containing the earth’s release of greenhouse gases so to free the world from the impact of catastrophic climate change. Carbon release quotas included in the Icelandic article are now 3.7 million tonnes per year but with the continuance of the build up of energy intensive industry it is estimated that the release will be much more in year 2012. Because of this, the environmental committee of Althingi, which should be safeguarding Iceland’s and the world’s environment, wants the Icelandic article to continue to be valid after the year 2012.

The argument made by the majority of the committee is based on the premise that we are using renewable energy resources, but this is not quite true. The production of electricity in Iceland is not at all sustainable and far from environmentally friendly. Also this has, in fact, nothing to do with limiting the release of greenhouse gases from Iceland as a whole.

Icelandic nature has never been valued financially in Iceland. It is always just assigned a zero rating. Already half of all usable energy in Iceland (14 TWh/y) has been harnessed and still there is no consensus within the Icelandic society to make Iceland one of the most polluting communities on Earth.