Reykjavík Grapevine - 17.06.2011, Qupperneq 12

Mountaineers of Iceland • Skútuvogur 12E • 104 Reykjavík • Iceland
Telephone: +354 580 9900 Ice@mountaineers.is • www.mountaineers.is • www. activity.is
SUPER JEEP & SNOWMOBILE TOURS
12
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 8 — 2011
Your Game | Step it up, nation!
Still, Iceland is so small and sparsely populated. Icelanders' actions
couldn't possibly affect the rest of the Earth... right?
Every year, thousands of tourists take
pictures of the green-painted parking
spaces on Laugavegur. After having
seen the Geysir, waterfalls, glaciers,
volcanoes, beautiful coastlines, high-
lands, boiling mud pots and cracks in
the earth, they probably assume that
these parking spaces in Iceland’s capi-
tal are a mirror of the downright envi-
ronmentally progressive attitude of this
amazing country.
Not long ago, one could see bicycle
paths marked in green on Hverfisgata.
Even though this was a most welcome
contribution to Reykjavík city life (how-
ever short-lived it was), we should bear
in mind that it was a long overdue ac-
tion considering that bicycle paths have
been common in other capital cities for
decades. And after all, Iceland is not as
environmentally friendly as it might ap-
pear at first glance.
LAGGING BEHIND THE EU
When looking at the Icelandic environ-
mental legislation, it becomes apparent
that the environmental protection is
substandard; Iceland even lags behind
the often-criticised EU environmental
legislation in many ways. In February
2010, after Iceland had submitted its
answers to the questionnaire concern-
ing EU membership, the European
Commission issued its opinion on Ice-
land’s readiness to join the EU. While
recommending the opening of acces-
sion negotiations, the opinion stated
that “serious efforts” are required in
several areas—among them environ-
mental policy—in order to meet the
accession criteria. This is interesting
considering that environmental legisla-
tion in the EU often operates with mini-
mum standards and has been subject to
very reasonable criticism over the years.
The underlying analytical report of
the Commission clarified that in the
policy areas that are not covered by the
EEA agreement Iceland still needs to
work towards achieving the same level
of environmental protection as the EU
countries.
Some examples from the report:
-It is not required under Icelandic law to
draw up ecological maps and work in a
structured manner towards building a
network of protection zones.
-The protection and conservation of
wild f lora and fauna and natural habi-
tats demand further efforts.
-National investment in the environ-
ment is very low, as well as the level
of enforcement of environmental law.
Mechanisms for integrating environ-
mental concerns into other policies are
not widespread.
-And, unlike other European countries,
Iceland has still not ratified the Espoo
Convention on Environmental Impact
Assessment in a Transboundary Con-
text and the Aarhus Convention on Ac-
cess to Information, Public Participa-
tion in Decision-making and Access to
Justice in Environmental Matters.
PROTECTING NATURE?
Nature protection and conservation in
Iceland mainly takes place under the
Nature Conservation Act 44/1999. Ice-
land does protect many areas of its envi-
ronment, including special landscapes
such as volcanic craters, waterfalls, hot
springs and lava fields. All in all, about
23.461 square kilometres of Iceland are
under some kind of protection, as Jón
Örvar Geirsson Jónsson from the Envi-
ronmental Agency of Iceland tells us.
“This includes two large water
protection areas around Lake Mý-
vatn and Þingvellir. It also includes
Breiðarfjörður”, he explains. This num-
ber roughly corresponds to the protect-
ed areas in the EU, which protects about
20 percent of its nature as habitats of
animal species.
However, we should consider that
most, if not all, EU countries are more
urbanised and more densely populated.
In contrast to Iceland, ‘natural areas’ in
the European countries are often frag-
mented due to high levels of infrastruc-
ture. This should make us wonder why
the vast areas of pristine nature in Ice-
land are not comprehensively protected.
ICELANDIC RECYCLING BEHIND
EU RESULTS
In its report, the European Commis-
sion also detects slight differences
in the waste management systems
of Iceland and the EU. The EU Waste
Framework Directive establishes the
so-called waste hierarchy, according to
which waste shall first and foremost
be prevented and re-used before be-
ing recycled or otherwise recovered.
The disposal of waste shall be the last
resort. At the time, Iceland had not yet
transposed the directive into Icelandic
law and numbers from Eurostat and
the Environmental Agency of Iceland
show that this difference in legislation
has already had consequences. In the
year 2006, Iceland recovered around 43
per cent of its total waste, while the EU
countries recovered almost 50 per cent
on average. And in comparison to coun-
tries like Denmark and Poland—that
recover even more than 80 percent of
their waste—it becomes apparent how
badly Iceland was lagging behind other
parts of the continent.
By the end of last year, Iceland had
started to transpose the Waste Frame-
work Directive into national law. How-
ever, some provisions of the Directive
and of amendments to the Batteries and
Mining Waste Directives still need to be
addressed.
NO EFFORTS TO REDUCE EMIS-
SIONS
The situation is similar with regard to
air pollution policies. According to Sta-
tistics Iceland, the total greenhouse gas
emissions in Iceland have risen since
1990. By emitting 20 percent more
greenhouse gases in 2006 than in
1990, Iceland does not comply with the
provisions of the Kyoto Protocol. Under
the Kyoto Protocol, Iceland is allowed to
emit 10 percent more greenhouse gases
until 2012 compared to 1990 levels.
In contrast, other industrialised states
agreed to reduce their emissions by 5,2
percent.
The EU countries, for example,
committed themselves to jointly reduce
emissions by 8 percent. And in fact,
data from the European Environment
Agency show that the emission of many
air pollutants in Europe has fallen sub-
stantially since 1990.
Even though many countries in the
EU had problems complying with their
emission reduction targets for 2010, it
should be acknowledged that they are
at least trying. That is not the case with
Iceland. Even though it is completely
independent of conventional emission-
intensive energy—unlike the EU coun-
tries—Iceland does not seem to un-
dertake big efforts to participate in the
global emission reduction endeavours.
The Icelandic exception in the Kyoto
Protocol illustrates this.
THE PEOPLES’ RESPONSIBILITY
Eventually, and despite all common
expectations, Iceland is not the envi-
ronmental pioneer it has every oppor-
tunity to become. And the aluminium
smelters are not exclusively to blame. It
is the Icelandic people who do not seem
to have much of an environmental con-
science. Where are the electric cars that
are supposed to park on those famous
parking spaces? How many Icelanders
would choose a fuel-efficient car over
fancy jeeps? Are there many Iceland-
ers who separate their garbage and go
the extra length to SORPA? Is it really
necessary to leave the water tap run-
ning for minutes to give it enough time
to cool down or heat up? And why do so
many Icelanders not turn off their cars’
engines when they are not actually driv-
ing? It cannot be because of the cold,
because people leave the engines run-
ning in winter- and summertime, while
in other countries people do not freeze
to death turning them off, even during
the cold, continental winters.
It is the little everyday efforts that
make a difference in the minds of
people, and that can make a difference
on the long run inf luencing politics as
well.
With its small population and abun-
dant natural resources, Iceland could
easily and should become an environ-
mental pioneer in international envi-
ronmental protection. There are huge
possibilities in Iceland with regard to
green energy in particular and green
policies in general. Not only would this
pay ethical respect to its unique nature,
it would present the country with many
much needed financial opportunities.
Pure Iceland?
Is Iceland as environmentally sound as you like to think?
“With its small population and abundant natural
resources, Iceland could easily and should become
an environmental pioneer in international
environmental protection ”
Words
Irina Domurath
Photography
GAS
Iceland is—against all common
notions and expectations—not
a very environmentally friendly
country. In many ways, the
environmental legislation
does not go as far as EU rules
command. But the problem
already starts in the minds of
the people.