Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.02.2017, Blaðsíða 23

Words: PAUL FONTAINE
Photos: ART BICNICK
Eleven weeks of negotiations have
finally brought us a new government.
Shortly thereafter, they made their
joint platform public. Health care
might be one of the biggest issues, but
it isn’t the only one. We reached out
to three Icelanders who have been ac-
tive in important areas that this new
government will have to confront—
environmentalism, immigration and
tourism—to get their thoughts on
their first reactions to this coalition,
and what they hope to see over the
next four years.
Árni Finnsson, founder of the
Iceland Nature Conservation
Association:
We expect the government to deal
with this as a matter of great ur-
gency. Iceland is still increasing
emissions of greenhouse gases, and
that trend must be reversed as soon
as possible, if Iceland is to fulfill its
obligation under the Paris Agreement
in cooperation with the European
Union and Norway. Also, if the Ice-
landic government is to succeed in
drastically reducing greenhouse gas
emissions before 2030, the Minister
for the Environment and Natural
Resources, Björt Ólafsdóttir, must
take a strong lead, along with the
Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture,
the Minister of Industry and Tourism
and the Minister of Transport. Since
the Ministry for the Environment
first introduced climate targets in
1995, very little has been achieved,
which is largely due to lack of interest
by other ministries. Thus, the Prime
Minister, Bjarni Benediktsson, must
elevate the Environment Ministry to
a much higher level in government.
The new Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, must set
the climate and the health of marine
ecosystems as the centerpiece of
foreign policy. What we miss from
the government’s platform is a much
stronger commitment to the conser-
vation of the marine environment.
This is strange, given how dependent
Iceland is on the sea. How will Iceland
contribute to the conservation of
marine biodiversity in international
waters, how will Iceland act to stop
ocean acidification and what actions
will Iceland take in order to stop or
slow down adverse impacts on the
marine environment due to climate
change? Most recently, we learned
that warmer seas are making it more
difficult to find capelin. The Minister
for the Environment has made some
remarks on [heavy industry], but
this is a very easy concession by the
Independence Party and Viðreisn.
For years everyone willing to know
has realized that there is not enough
energy left to build yet another alu-
minum smelter, plus, the price the
aluminum smelters area paying for
electricity is far too lowl. Lastly, the
new Minister of Tourism faces the
challenge of setting a long-term plan
for that sector, sustaining itself fi-
nancially and keeping Iceland's main
attraction, its nature, unspoiled and
intact. We have long argued that a na-
tional park in the central Highlands
is not only about conservation, but
also, just as importantly, about proper
management of resources. Now, with
some two million tourists visiting
the country, we need such manage-
ment tools very badly. I believe that
Björt Ólafsdóttir has great ambitions,
she wants to achieve a national park,
but unless she has a strong support
within the government, her work will
come to nothing. Also, it is not clear
whether the Prime Minister will take
on the role of a visionary leader in the
coordination of a complete and dras-
tic reverse of Iceland's climate policy,
a more active and forward-looking
marine policy. I worry that he hasn't,
yet, acquired the vocabulary to lead
that work in a confident manner.
Sema Erla Serdar, Social
Democrat and founder of
Solaris, an NGO for asylum
seekers and refugees:
I was not very optimistic about this
new government’s immigration
platform, because we have a very-
right wing government, which we
know from experience does not put a
great focus on human rights, human
dignity, welfare and equality, which is
needed now more than ever, especially
when it comes to migration and the
rising number of refugees and asylum
seekers, both in Europe and in Iceland,
where the systems are broken, unjust
and missing the humanitarian factor.
Also, I was not very optimistic,
because even though the parties have
put some pretty words about multi-
culturalism, migration and refugees
into their platform, the governing
parties, in particular the Indepen-
dence party, consist of members that
have taken extreme positions on
migration, refugees and asylum seek-
ers, and have put forward some deeply
concerning arguments and ideas.
I’m torn, and still not optimistic
enough. Why? Because at the same
time that the Welfare Minister has
welcomed Syrian refugees and said
that the government will welcome
more refugees in Iceland, as well as
taken steps into improving the status
of asylum seekers that have been
given a refuge here (which I do think
is the work of the previous govern-
ment), we have members of the gov-
erning party that talk about “using an
iron fist on asylum seekers,” to “send
all of them back,” and to “check the
background of all Muslims,” and none
of the party members seem to see a
reason to object to this.
What is also concerning is the new
Minister of Justice and her views on
migration. She has recently said that
that some asylum seekers come to
Iceland for the purpose of “taking
advantage of the goodwill of Iceland-
ers” without anything to support
her remarks. She has not shown any
interest in improving the access
and rights of asylum seekers and is
opposed to reforming the Dublin
Regulation system so that European
countries would share responsibil-
ity for accepting more refugees and
asylum seekers. This is concerning
when there are few things that are
more urgent than improving the
system around asylum seekers and
sharing the responsibility of solv-
ing one of the biggest humanitarian
crisis of our time, which is of course
not the responsibility of one country
but for us all because there might be
borders between countries but there
are no borders between the pain and
suffering of human beings.
Helga Árnadóttir, managing
director of the Icelandic Travel
Industry Association:
There are a lot of positive things in
the joint coalition platform where
tourism is concerned. We especially
welcome the emphasis on environ-
mentalism and conservation, and
the additional emphasis on safety
and law enforcement. It would have
of course been interesting to see
more detailed explanations of those
aspects that pertain directly to tour-
ism. Even though a special ministry
specifically for tourism has not yet
been established, as we have asked,
there are strong indications that this
issue will receive greater priority, as
the office is now called the Ministry
of Tourism, Industry and Innovation.
The new Ministry of Transportation
has also become a reality, which is in
line with the government’s emphasis
on the development and maintenance
of the transportation infrastructure,
which is the lifeblood of tourism.
During the last election term, Tour-
ism Mission Control (Ed.: inexact
translation of “Stjórnstöð ferðamála”)
was established. There, we’re talking
about a cooperative forum between
the government and the tourism
industry, and we welcome that which
has come from the Prime Minister’s
office with regards to the notion that
good works get the full attention of
the government, and the tourism
industry as a whole. The lion’s share
of companies in the tourism indus-
try are small to medium in size. It is
therefore a step in the right direction
that their insurance premiums will
be reduced, alongside changes to the
tax system with simplifying matters
in the forefront. The government also
places emphasis on stabilising the
currency, fiscal responsibility and
harmony in the labour market, which
are all the foundations of the healthy
management of a company. We wel-
come these points of emphasis. We
believe that actions will follow words,
as we now approach a great upswing
in the development of tourism. The
Icelandic Travel Association wishes
the new government well, and looks
forward to a good cooperative effort
with them in the years to come.
High Hopes And Great Expectations
Three Icelanders share their thoughts on
our new government
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believe that the age of heavy
industry in Iceland is coming to
a close?
I do. What keeps me going in Icelandic
politics is I tend to be very optimistic,
whether I have reason to be or not.
A new field, tourism, which not so
long ago was frowned upon as almost
like a hobby or a side project, actu-
ally became the largest pillar of the
economy. Tourism has actually proven
that Icelandic nature is not only worth
saving for ethical reasons, but also
simply because it makes economic
sense, and it's a way of taking a longer
view of things. I think we are actually
starting to see a change in mindset,
not only within a select group of
environmentalists or academics, but
everyone is open to more possibili-
ties. There's a lot of rethinking about
environmentalism in Iceland, in part
because we're seeing how the rest of
the world views Iceland. We're seeing
how climate change is affecting Ice-
land, so that's also a driver there.
I'm glad you brought up tourism.
It's gotten to the point where
even tourists are complaining
about too many tourists. A
recent three-year projection
from Arion Bank showed that the
number of tourists will continue
to increase, but the revenue that
we get for it will precipitously
fall. What is this government
going to do to prevent basically
repeating the mistake of 2007,
and having another bubble
burst?
I think there are many answers to
that. I think we need to take charge
in trying to have more of a say in the
number of tourists here. There are
many ways to do this, with infrastruc-
ture, and possibly taxation. There
needs to be more coordination in the
whole tourism industry. These are the
first issues. We actually don't have a
set policy as to how we want to see
the tourism industry develop when
it comes to numbers, the spread over
the country, or the environmental
footprint and effects on the housing
market. Costa Rica has done quite
interesting things when it comes to
organising its tourism industry—they
deliberately decided to emphasise eco-
tourism. I think we have a lot of great
opportunities here that cannot be
based on an ever-escalating number
of tourists coming in, but has to be
in some way managed. These are very
pressing issues, and if we don't take
charge of them, they will take charge
of us. You can't manage it totally, but
you can definitely help point it in the
right direction.
Lastly, going forward, with all
of Bright Future's emphasis on
being able to work with other
people, are you optimistic that
the opposition parties will work
with you?
I'm always optimistic, and I am
hopeful, because deep down, I think
we need to work in that direction. I
think we in the government parties
want this very much—to work on a
broader base. But then again, I realise
that for us to work together, everyone
has to want to do this. I think one
of the major disappointments of the
previous government for those of us
in the opposition was that even when
we wanted to work together, it wasn’t
necessarily appreciated or wanted.
But I am truly hopeful, because I
think that’s what the voters were tell-
ing us. I think none of us politicians
can afford to deny that the result of
this election was not "only this" or
"only that," but it was some sort of "bit
of this" and "bit of that." I don't want
to be dramatic, but I think it would be
the right thing to do.