10th Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, Akureyri 5-7 Sept. 2012
Adress by the President of Althingi, Ms. Asta R. Johannesdottir. [DRÖG]
Honourable Chair, distinguished guests!
It is my true pleasure to welcome you all to the 10th Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, held in Akureyri – often referred to as the Capital of the North here in Iceland.
Akureyri celebrated 150 years of municipal rightslast Wednesday and I would like to use the occasion to congratulate the citizens of the Capital of the North on the 150th anniversary.
The first Conference was held in Reykjavik in 1993 and the circle has now been closed – so to speak- so it is therefore the second time Iceland hosts the Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region.
No-one doubts the important role which National Parliaments play in our democratic systems. They are the cornerstone of modern parliamentary democracies; venues for democratic dialogue and lawmaking, responsible for the State Budget and scrutinizing the executive.
In international context, focus tends to be on international organizations of the executive. But nobody should undervalue the importance of international parliamentary organizations.
International parliamentarianism ‘corresponds to an idea of increasingly present and deeper democracy’, as Mr. Lluís Maria de Puig, former President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, phrased it in his book International Parliaments.
The general rule has been that international parliamentary assemblies follow up – sometimes decades – after the establishment of an international organization, or international venues of the executive.
The Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region is a splendid example of the exception to the rule. Our Conference dates back 3 years before the establishment of the Arctic Council and we can thus say that focus on Arctic was parliamentary driven from the outset.
Althingi, the Parliament of Iceland, unanimously passed a parliamentary resolution on Iceland’s Arctic Policies in March last year. I will not recite the resolution in its whole, but I would like to underline a couple of its points.
Firstly; Althingi underlines the ecologically sustainable and peaceful development of the Arctic region. Secondly, Althingi stresses the importance of the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic.
The Arctic Region is increasingly in focus and new possibilities - and threats – will occur in not so distance future. Resources and possible opening of new sailing routs must be managed carefully with respect for the peoples and the nature of the Arctic.
Recent information from NASA reveals faster melting of the Arctic ice since beginning of satellite surveillance in 1979. The highest point of Snæfellsjökull glacier in West-Iceland, 1446 meters above sea level, is for the first time nearly without any Ice.
These are serious alerts, not only for us living in the High North; but for the world as a whole.
Mr. Chair, dear friends.
The agenda of the Conference is ambitious and your work is important. I wish you all a good and successful Conference and once again warmly welcome you to Akureyri.