Foreign Minister’s Ossur Skarphedinsson’s adress at the UN yesterday. Absolutely groundbreaking…or no, not really.

Mr. President,

Only a year ago, this very weekend, my country, Iceland found itself in the beginning of the global financial storm. It swept almost the entire banking system off the ground, and left Iceland facing her most severe economic set-back in living memory.

We were the first country to fall victim to the greed and excess of financiers who abused rules, followed dubious work-ethics, hid their money in tax-asylums and induced an irresponsible system of stellar bonuses that incited reckless behaviour and risk taking far beyond anything the world has seen.

In Iceland, those responsible left in their wake a scorched earth, bewildered citizens, full of sorrow and anger, scarred by the possibility of imminent bankruptcies, loss of their houses and jobs.

Iceland, however, is pulling through, first and foremost due to the hard work of our people but we also had support. Our Nordic family didn’t desert us. The Baltic countries gave us moral support. Poland, out of the generosity of her heart, lent us a hand without even being asked – which we shall never forget. The IMF offered us a stabilization program, which remains broadly on track, although I have to voice Iceland’s grave dissatisfaction with the fact, that unrelated bilateral disputes have prevented the program to be fully implemented. Our application to join the European Union has also been warmly received by our European neighbours.

I am therefore confident when I say, that the financial storms that ravaged Iceland are beginning to break. That is due both to the resilence and hard work of the Icelandic people but also because you, the international community, lent us important support.

This is perhaps the punctum saliens. In a globalised world, we have to tackle problems together globally. We need to fight together the corruption that contributed to the international recession; to ensure that the financial czars are not allowed to speculate again with peoples’ lives, to obliterate the tax-havens they used, and we need to lock arms to create a sound global regulatory framework.

The world has to fight the recession together – in the spirit of the United Nations and within the framework of the United Nations.

Mr. President,
Earlier in the week I participated in the Leaders’ Summit on climate change. It touched my heart to hear the president of Kiribati describe the plight of his country, which might be obliterated from the face of the earth by the drastic climatic changes. He asked for the only thing that every human and every nation deserve. He asked for justice.

The best way to give that justice to the people of Kiribati , to the nations of the small islands in the South Pacific and elsewhere, to future generations, is to put all our efforts into reaching a decision on a legally binding agreement in Copenhagen that will strike to the core of the problem.

The best way to convince our nations, our governments, to take that step is to highlight the success stories in this respect. We have to show that our goals are realistic, achievable.

Here at the beginning of this session we heard President Lula present the success of Brazil. Let me tell you about the success of Iceland.
A generation ago, we were as dependent on imported fossil fuel as any other nation.
A generation later, 80 % of our energy needs are met by renewables. All our heating, all our electricity is 100 % renewable.
What we did was to use the treasures that were under our feet, and before our very eyes: Hydro and geothermal.
What we did, others can do.

I want especially to draw your attention to the vastly underestimated possibilities in geothermal. Many of the countries of the African Rift Valley have similar potential as Iceland does. In South-East Asia we have the greatest geothermal potential in the world. Latin America has valuable potential too.

Many of these countries could, for example with Icelandic expertise, achieve a clean energy transformation. Some of them could even become self sustainable in terms of energy, but as always we need finance.

What we need is a global climatic fund to transfer renewable technologies to the developing countries to enable them to continue growing – on a sustainable, renewable basis.

Our Icelandic expertise is available, and I like to add, that despite our present difficulties we have safeguarded the geothermal training program of the United Nations University in Iceland. It remains open to you, as it has been for the last 25 years.

Mr. President,

Climate change is also exerting drastic effects on the Arctic. Iceland, the only state that lies entirely within the arctic region, is designating the Arctic as one of the main areas of her foreign policy. Science tells us that within soon a great part of the Arctic Ocean may be ice-free at the end of summer.   This will open a new pathway for transportation between the Pacific and the Atlantic – with great benefits to trade. For better or worse it will also facilitate access to vast resources in the Arctic. But we must tread very carefully – the Arctic also possesses the most fragile ecosystem of the world. It will be a challenge to strike the right balance between this fragile environment and the use of its resources. We believe, that it is very important these challenges be addressed regionally through the Arctic Council. And territorial claims, as we have already seen emerge, should be settled on basis of the UN Convention on the law of the sea.

The climatic changes are also likely to have negative effects on the fishing stocks of the world. More than a billion people depend on fish as their main source of protein. 95% of those live in developing countries. As you know, Iceland’s track-record in the sustainable management of fishing stocks is second to none. In this field, as in the geothermal, we also have technological expertise to share. I would be very pleased if you take us up on that.

In this respect, I am happy to tell the United Nations that despite our financial woes we have ensured, that the UN University’s Fisheries Training Programme in Iceland is fully funded – and available to you.

Mr. President,

During this week I have heard a lot of speakers criticize the UN. But I would like to use this opportunity to praise the work of the UN. The UN has done well in times when the odds have sometimes been heavily stacked against. I want especially to take two examples – out of a great many.

My government has strongly endorsed the rights of women. We have especially taken to our heart the Security Council’s resolution 1325 on the rights of women to take part and be active in the peace processes in warn-torn regions. Next year is the 10th anniversary of 1325, and I urge the UN to actively use it to promote the role of women as peacemakers all over the world. In this context the unanimous decision of the General Assembly to create a new and consolidated UN gender unity to be headed by a special Under-Secretary was also very helpful. Thank you, UN, for these important steps.

The other cause of my gratitude is the unanimous decision of the Security Council to call for global efforts to stop the spread for nuclear arms and to boost disarmament. I remember when I was a very young editor in 1986 when President Reagan and Secretary Gorbachev met in Reykjavik. That meeting really signalled the end of the Cold war. I’ll never forget that for the first time in my life a world free of a nuclear nightmare became a realistic goal. This is a goal that must be vigorously pursued, it is strongly supported by my government, and I am grateful to the UN for providing the framework for that.

There are other happy events from these first days of mine at the UN. It was invigorating to hear president Barack Obama boldly describe his vision of a peace agreement in the Middle-East based on the two-state solution and the cessation of all settlements. His strong declaration has created a fresh political momentum that must not be allowed to fade away.

Mr. President,

Iceland is a small nation, but we have a lot to offer.
•Our expertise in geothermal can be of vital importance against a climatic crisis.
•Our experience in sustainable fishing can be instrumental to stave off depletion of stocks.
•Our geopolitical position in the Arctic and our cohabitation with it for more than a millenium can be of great value to strike the right balance between a fragile ecosystem and use of its resources.

True, the crisis destroyed financial assets but Iceland’s real assets remain intact, natural resources, human capital, and social welfare.

This is why I am so confident, that although Iceland was the first to fall victim to the global financial crisis, she is aldready on the road to recovery.
Thank you.

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