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Tag: President

  • President of Iceland opens the Summit

    President of Iceland opens the Summit

    President of Iceland, Ólafur R. Grimsson at the Arctic Energy Summit

    Participants of the Arctic Energy Summit have arrived in Akureyri to participate in the long expected Arctic Energy Summit.

    President of Iceland, Mr Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson has honored the event with his presence and the excellent speech.

    Mr Grimsson highlighted the need for international cooperation and development of green energy policy in the Arctic states.

    President of Iceland invited participants to join the annual Polar Law Symposium that starts on Friday at the University of Akureyri and the Arctic Circle, where conclusions from Arctic Energy Summit will be presented at the opening session.

    The Arctic Energy Summit is being live streamed from the conference venue.

  • Putin speaks at the Arctic Forum

    Putin speaks at the Arctic Forum

    Putin during his speech.

    President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, held a speech at the third international Arctic Forum, in Salekhard. The first such forum was held in Moscow in September 2010, the second – in Arkhangelsk in 2011.

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    The main theme of the current forum is environmental security. The forum participants will discuss possible scenarios of climate change in the Arctic, the current level of pollution, the impact of its industrial development on indigenous peoples and a number of other issues.

    Taking part in the third international Arctic forum will also be President of Finland Sauli Niinist, President of Iceland Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and many others.

    “Today more than ever, the Arctic needs particular care and attention. Russia, where the Far North regions make up almost a third of the country’s territory, is conscious of its responsibility for preserving the Arctic’s environmental stability,” Putin said in his speech.

    “Many of you here today know that we have adopted the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy. We are using it as the base for drafting our State Programme for the Russian Arctic’s Social and Economic Development until 2020.”

    President Putin also underlined Russis intentions to clean up the Arctic, and said that the federal budget allocated 45 million US dollars to the cleanup.

    “I also note that we plan to extend considerably the network of nature conservation areas in the Arctic region. These specially protected natural areas currently make up around 6% of the Russian Arctic, nearly 322,000 square kilometres. Our plan is to increase this area several-fold.”

    Putin also stressed that coperation is high on the Russian agenda: “I want to reaffirm today Russia’s commitment to this declaration’s principles, and also to our desire to do everything possible to make the Arctic in practice a territory of partnership, cooperation and dialogue between countries and between the public at the broadest level.”

    Read Presidents Putin speech here.

  • Finland´s visit to Iceland starts today

    Finland´s visit to Iceland starts today

    Icelandic nature

    Today, 28th of May 2013, the President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö will pay an official visit to Iceland, together with his wife and various Arctic experts.

    During his visit in Iceland, President Niinistö will attend a conference on the Arctic that will be held at the University of Iceland.

    The President will also officially visit Reykjavik University and learn about IT (information technology) and innovation in high tech industries at a special introductory meeting.

    The Finnish president will also visit the geothermal area in Svartsengi and learn about the use and utilization of green energy there as everywhere in Iceland.

    The Finnish President will depart on May 29th after two days visit.

    Source

    News of Iceland

  • Interview with Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

    Interview with Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

    Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the President of Iceland

    Yesterday, 23rd of April 2013, Lögfræðingur, a peer-reviewed law journal of the University of Akureyri, published the interview with the President of Iceland – Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.

    Ólafur has been a vigorous advocate for peaceful and democratic evolution in the Arctic. He maintains that Iceland has a critical role within the cooperation of nations in the Arctic.

    Ólafur emphasizes that the evolution of the Arctic must be fundamentally based on science.

    Lögfræðingur met the President on 7 February 2013 at his residence Bessastaðir to discuss Arctic issues, Arctic development and the nature of the management and legal framework that is the key to cooperation between the Arctic countries.

    Click here to download the article.

    Source

    Lögfræðingur 2013

  • President Obama in COP15

    President Obama in COP15

    cop15

    en.cop15.dk – The official homepage of the COP15 announces that the President of the USA Mr. Barack Obama will visit the Conference briefly on December 9, on his way to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

    The announcement has been taken with conflicting feelings, some environmental organizations claimin President Obama undermining this way the very important agenda of the Conference. Others say, on the other hand, that his visit, though brief, demonstrates a shift in US climate policy and gives hope that a new binding solution for future emission reduction can be reached in Copenhagen.