Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir presented the government’s updated climate action plan today. Its 48 actions are projected to bring down Iceland’s carbon emissions by 35% by the year 2030, a bigger drop than the country’s international agreements call for. Iceland’s government has set the goal of making the country carbon neutral by 2040.
The plan involves an ISK 46 billion ($333 million/€294 million) investment from the government in 48 actions intended to reduce emissions, 15 of which are new. The actions are varied, including carbon capture from heavy industry, increased domestic vegetable production, and subsidising low emission rental cars. Emphasis has been placed on implementing the measures immediately, and thus 28 have already been launched.
Read More: Iceland’s Plan to Become Carbon Neutral By 2040
Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources, stated that the plan has turned over a new leaf in Iceland’s climate policy. “With the actions that we have taken and intend to take, we will achieve far more success than international commitments under the Paris Agreement require of us.”
The plan has been uploaded to the Government Consultation Portal, where the public have until September 20 to submit comments and suggestions.
The video below (featuring English subtitles) introduces the updated plan.
