Ræða umhverfisráðherra á 10. aðildarríkjaþingi Loftslagssamnings S.þ. í Buenos Aires

Sigrídur Anna Thórdardóttir, Minister for the Environment, Iceland

Intervention on technology and climate change, COP-10, Buenos Aires, 16. December 04

Mr. Chairman,

Technological developments are an important means of tackling climate change, not least in the field of energy. However, there are at present available clean technologies that can be used much more widely to combat climate change.

Geothermal energy is very competitive in many parts of the world. Although not found in every country, it is estimated that hundreds of millions of people could benefit from electricity and heat from geothermal resources. This is particularly true for many developing countries.

Despite the fact that geothermal is a well proven technology, it has not been applied as widely as it could be. A lack of know-how and training is one of the biggest obstacles. Iceland hosts the UN University's Geothermal Training Programme, the activities of are due to be expanded. Training programmes will be set up in Africa in 2005, and in Central America and Asia in 2006-2008. It is our hope that this will help speed up the use of climate-friendly energy in those regions.

The Icelandic government has decided to considerably increase Iceland's Official Development Assistance in the coming years. A substantial part of this increase will be channeled to supporting projects in renewable energy in Small Island Developing States.

Climate-friendly technologies in general face many obstacles. We must train engineers and build up capacity to build and run clean power plants. Iceland, with its abundant hydro and geothermal sources, used coal for energy in the early stages of its economic development. We now use renewable energy for about 99% of our stationary energy needs. We would like to assist others with similar circumstances to pass the polluted stage of development and embrace a cleaner future.

Another technology which could be of critical importance in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the long-term is hydrogen technology. Hydrogen is part of Iceland's vision for tackling climate change. There are currently hydrogen-powered buses on the streets of Reykjavík, giving the public a glimpse of a cleaner future. We hope that our renewable resources can produce fuel for our cars and ships, so they will one day become emissions-free. But Iceland can not act by itself. We take part in international cooperation, including the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy, which we hope will bring a cleaner future a bit closer.