Iceland’s Foreign Minister Insists Depending On Oil And Gas Reflects Our Values

“We are today, Iceland not, but we as a region and as societies and a world, are dependent on authoritarian societies when it comes to oil and gas. It is a decision to be dependent and to pay less. It might be cheaper in the short term, but it is also a values-based decision to be dependent on people that you can't trust and you should not trust. And I truly hope that this will be a factor that we won't forget.” Those are the unforgettable words of Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Thórdis Kulbrún Reykjörd Gylfadóttir at the Atlantic Council – Iceland Clean Energy Summit in September.

Attendees dove deep into the intersection of energy security, national security and climate change, using Iceland’s transition to an 85% renewable energy country as a case study.

Gylfadóttir reminded the audience that, “When everything is going well, you might not have to think so much about the values. But when the values are being tested, you see that everything we do, we do on a foundation that we cherish, of international law, rule-based order, human rights… It's all built on those values that are now being attacked.” Coming from an Arctic country, she also reminded the audience that “with the onset of winter, the situation will become serious enough to cause severe economic, social and political disruption in some European societies,” and that how leaders deal with that crisis will reflect their values.

“Without energy, civilization as we know it will not survive.”

The roomful of energy leaders and dignitaries from around the world was silenced by her reminder of what’s at stake as the world figures out how to contend with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine, energy security, and climate change at the same time. Putin may have thought that his abundance of oil and gas would make him invincible and triumphant, but instead his illegal invasion and brutality against the Ukrainian people has done the opposite; it has hastened Europe’s transition to renewables and reduced his power and influence.

“We are living in times where the lack of energy is an immediate threat to large populations, even in very rich and prosperous societies,” Minister Gylfadóttir warned. “Energy in all its forms is the livelihood of our societies…Our mastery of energy has allowed us to build without having to lift every rock, to travel faster than our feet can carry, and to stay cool when it’s hot and warm when it’s cold. Therefore, energy security remains one of the predominant requirements of modern times, because, it’s simply that, without energy, civilization as we know it will not survive.”

Innovation requires a free society and infrastructure

“We know that we need more energy, but we also know that we need more innovation, we need new technology, and that we can only do (this), by being creative,” Minister Gylfadóttir continued. “And you cannot be a creative society if your society is not free, if the individuals are not free to think freely, talk freely, love freely, just be free individuals, you can't be a creative society.”

At the Summit, Halla Hrund Logadóttir, the head of Iceland’s National Energy Authority, echoed the foreign minister’s comments, and emphasized that other keys to Iceland’s transition were infrastructure, public-private partnerships, and entrepreneur-fueled innovation. She also congratulated the U.S. on passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, saying that, “it proves that public policy goes beyond private action.”

The trifecta of new legislation President Biden signed into law this year – the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, and the CHIPS HIPS and Jobs Act – all seek to optimize and increase the efficiency of the U.S. energy system, address climate change, and help those citizens and communities most at risk from climate change and from the transition to a clean energy economy, such as coal country.

“Climate change is a threat multiplier,” Sherri Goodman, Vice Chair of the U.S. Secretary of State's International Security Advisory Board and the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security), said at the Summit.

Cautioning against protectionism in the fight for energy security

Minister Gylfadóttir reminded the Summit that, while Iceland is not vulnerable to the vicissitudes of oil and gas fluctuations since their country is essentially powered by renewable energy, that they “are not isolated from what happens in Europe or in other regions.”

She also reminded this affluent, influential group that, “While I know that values don't heat your house, and values don't feed your kids, still, if we lose them, we will definitely have more houses to heat, and more children to feed….We should be concerned that national governments may revert to protectionism to secure energy supplies in the face of uncertainty.”

Instead, what’s needed is partnership, she emphasized, saying, “there is this balance of being independent with food security and energy security, but not being protectionist when it comes to the cooperation.”

“This is all a common thing that we need to figure out together.”