Around 400 protesters gathered outside the Icelandic parliament this week with green flags to call on the government to cancel its proposal to remove protections of four highland rivers by approving them for hydroelectric damming.
The protest took place on Wednesday evening, as parliament was debating the recommendation made by the parliamentary economy committee, which environmentalists say is not based on solid reasoning, represents a moving of the goalposts, and a lack of respect for nature.
The Framework Plan addresses where it is possible to dam and where not. Parliament is debating the proposal from the majority on the economy committee to move dams under consideration into the dammable category without the plans having been through the adequate procedures prescribed by law and ensuring that all professional considerations have been met, the NGO behind the protest claims.
“If the proposal is approved, the majority of Parliament will show us not only their preparedness to break the law, but also their contempt against Icelandic nature, mother earth and the Lady of the Mountains herself,” Sigríður Surge Sigurjónsdóttir from NGO Landvernd told RÚV.
