Iceland review - 2019, Page 19

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Iceland Review
impact. It creates goals and increases the demand
for environmental solutions and the importance of
neutralising carbon emissions - and sets an example
for corporations and businesses to follow. Guðmundur
Ingi Guðbrandsson, Minister for the Environment
and Natural Resources, points out that it is even more
important to reduce carbon emissions all together, say-
ing that government’s action plan is sending a positive
message to society and encouraging others to act.
Youth in action
If progress sounds frustratingly slow, at least the
nation’s youth is taking action. Since February,
Icelandic students have been holding a weekly cli-
mate strike in front of the Parliament. Their protest
is inspired by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta
Thunberg, whose school strike has sparked a worldwide
youth movement calling on authorities to act on climate
change. Iceland’s youth climate strike organisers sup-
port parliament’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality, but
point out the policy is in no way radical enough to reach
the goal of limiting warming within 1.5°C. The Icelandic
government plans to allocate 0.05% of its GDP per year
for the next five years on actions to prevent tempera-
tures from rising. The students demand that both the
government and the Icelandic labour market reserve at
least 2.5% of domestic GDP for direct actions to fight
climate change.
Community changes
Though public outcry has yet to lead to large-scale
policy changes on the part of the Icelandic govern-
ment, many community organisations and small
businesses are answering the people’s call to action.
Several Reykjavík restaurants have banned plastic
straws, while most large grocery chains have stopped
selling plastic carrier bags and are working to reduce
plastic packaging or eliminate it altogether. Other
Icelandic companies are switching to environmentally
friendly transport methods or organising tree-planting
initiatives to carbon-neutralise their operations. The
country’s local authorities are addressing the issue as
well – like the City of Reykjavík, which has launched
initiatives to restore wetlands on its outskirts as well
as closing half of its gas stations by 2025. Hopefully,
smaller actions will encourage larger ones, and we’ll all
have better news to look forward to.