NordenBladet —According to a new agreement outlined by the Icelandic Ministry of Industry and Innovation, agriculture in Iceland is set to be fully carbon neutral by 2040.
On Thursday 4th February, Iceland’s Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Minister of Finance and Economy, and the Minister of Finance and Economy signed an agreement on changes to the previous framework agreement that looks at the general working conditions for agriculture. As part of this agreement, emphasis was placed on climate change, which sees Iceland’s agriculture becoming fully carbon neutral by 2040.
During the meeting, it was also agreed that the new direction of agriculture would lay the foundation to reexamining farming produce contracts in 2023.
Furthermore, finances gained from farming produce contracts will go to The Farmers Association of Iceland to develop new branding, similar to that of its Nordic counterparts.
NordenBladet – Disney will start offering at least some content dubbed and subtitled into Icelandic on its streaming service in Iceland over the coming months, following dismay that Icelandic children are currently not offered Icelandic content. The confirmation came following a letter from Iceland’s education and culture minister.
Education minister Lilja Alfreðsdóttir sent her letter to Disney on 1st February and has now received a response from Hans van Rijn, head of the Disney service in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
In her letter, Lilja asked the company to start offering Icelandic-language content on its streaming service.
“Since Disney+ launched in Iceland last September, we have been exploring how we can add more dubbed and subtitled stories in Icelandic. I am pleased to share with you today that work is underway to make that a reality,” Van Rijn writes.
He says Lion King, Toy Story, Wall-E, Cars, Frozen 2, Coco, and more can be expected in Icelandic, though not for several months yet.
“More must be done whenever possible,” Lilja wrote on social media. “It looks like materials will be made available in the spring, but I will pressure to make that work happen faster.”
NordenBladet — The minimum school leaving age will be raised to 18 years. This first applies to those school-leavers who finish comprehensive school this spring. The Ministry of Education and Culture provides information on the reform to young people in the social media. School-leavers finishing comprehensive school will also be sent information on the reform to their home address.
The Act on Compulsory Education will enter into force on 1 August 2021, but the provisions related to the obligation to apply already entered into force on 1 January 2021. The obligation to apply means that all 9th graders in comprehensive school will apply for upper secondary education in the joint application procedure between 23 February and 23 March 2021, or in some other way.
Minister of Education Jussi Saramo will be visiting schools online through Teams in the spring and will answer students’ questions. One Q&A that will be held at Kaukovainio school in Oulu on 15 February at 10 –10.45 will be live-streamed on the YouTube channel of the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Saramo will also hold Q&As for young people on the Ministry’s Instagram account. The first Q&A will be held on 22 February. You can submit questions in advance via the Instagram account the day before.The Ministry will also be sending 9th graders and their parents and guardians information about the reform to their home address.
NordenBladet – “Husavik”, from the film ‘Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga’, has the possibility of being nominated for the best original song at this years Oscars.
The shortlists for nine categories were announced yesterday. Other categories, such as best documentary feature, best visual effects and international feature film were also announced.
Not the first time the song has been nominated for an award.
The song received a nomination for best song at the Critics’ Choice Awards last year.
The film itself was nominated for two People’s Choice Awards; those awards being best comedy film and best comedy actor (Will Farrel).
It was also nominated at the Grammy Awards for the best compilation soundtrack for visual media.
A smash hit with Icelanders.
The film was exceptionally popular in Iceland when it released on Netflix last year. The film takes place in Husavik and is about a singer who desperately wants to perform at the Eurovision contest.
The song was composed written by Fat Max Gsus, Rickard Göransson and Savan Kotecha. It was sung by both Will Farrel and Molly Sandén.
Atli Örvarsson composed the music for the film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga but did not compose the song Husavik.
Nominations for the Oscars will be announced on March 15th and then it will be revealed whether the song will be nominated or not.
The Oscars themselves will be hosted on the 25th April.
NordenBladet – The Supreme Court of Iceland yesterday dismissed an appeal from fishing company Samherji against the Reykjavík District Court ruling that sided with the district prosecutor and forced the KPMG auditing company to hand over bookkeeping information and financial statements for all companies in the Samherji group between 2011 and 2020.
Samherji released a statement today harshly criticising both the District Court judges and the district prosecutor. The ruling from the Supreme Court does not hide any of the names that were blurred out in the previous District Court and Landsréttur rulings.
The Supreme Court dismissal states that the appeal should not have been taken to the top court and that the Landsréttur appeals court ruling should have been final. The court published the verdicts of both Landsréttur and Reykjavík District Court, including all the names that had been removed previously.
Samherji released a strongly-worded statement on its website today, following the court’s decision.
There it says that the company has submitted a complaint about the working methods of Reykjavík District Court judges to the judicial review committee, and another to the committee that deals with complaints against the police about the conduct of the district prosecutor.
In its unsuccessful appeal to Landsréttur, Samherji complained that no evidence had been compiled by the time Reykjavík District Court took the case on, and claimed that the judge should have demanded the prosecutor submit more details on the documentation before deciding whether or not it could be demanded. That was not done.
Samherji’s complaint is directed against District Court judge Ingibjörg Þorsteinsdóttir, who ruled in the case, agreeing that the district prosecutor did have the legal right to demand the documents about Samherji from KPMG.
NordenBladet — The turnover and staff numbers of companies in the tourism sector have increased during 2015–2019. After four consecutive years of growth, the coronavirus pandemic brought tourism to a halt in spring 2020. According to estimates, the recovery of tourism will take a few years, with sustainability and security among Finland’s key assets in future.
These are the conclusions of the sector report on the tourism industry published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on 10 February 2021. In 2019, the number of companies in the sector was about 29,000 and they employed directly about 119,000 persons. The total turnover of companies in the sector was EUR 21 billion.
“The figures in the report describe the situation before the coronavirus pandemic and show that there is a demand for tourism in Finland. As we all know, the pandemic has had a dramatic impact on tourism, but Finland has several strengths in the sector. We are a safe country and we can also stand out due to our sustainability,” says Lea Marski, Sector Manager from the North Ostrobothnia ELY Centre, who compiled the report.
In 2019, passenger transport and its services had the largest turnover among the tourism industry groups, while food and beverage services were the largest employer. Over the past few years, the number of new companies in the tourism sector has increased moderately.
Tourism sector accounts for about 2.7% of Finland’s GDP. Tourism supports the development of regions, especially outside growth centres, thereby strengthening a balanced regional structure.
Coronavirus pandemic has dealt a blow to tourism sector
In spring 2020 the tourism sector collapsed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the travel restrictions imposed to prevent its spread. The restrictions have successfully reduced the spread of the disease, but also driven the tourism sector, in particular, to serious financial difficulties. The turnover of tourism companies has decreased dramatically and the number of people laid off has multiplied from the years before. The State has introduced different kinds of support instruments to address the harm caused by the coronavirus crisis.
It is estimated that the demand for tourism may recover from the pandemic in a few years’ time, but its impact on the industry may be extensive and long-lasting in many ways. It may take a long time before the financial situation of tourism companies improves, which may slow down investments for growth. The pandemic has also affected the consumer demand and behaviour of tourists, which should be taken into account in service production and its development.
Investing in Finland’s competitiveness a key issue after pandemic
Finland’s country image as a safe and stable country provides a solid foundation for the development and growth of tourism industry after the pandemic. Finland’s aim is still to achieve the most sustainable growth as a destination for tourism among the Nordic countries.
This is achievable if Finland responds to the digital transformation, makes use of innovations, improves access, invests in the development of sustainable and responsible tourism and strengthens the competitiveness of the sector’s business environment. This requires long-term and close cooperation between tourism operators, sponsors, political decision-makers and public authorities.The sector report on tourism was published at Visit Finland’s ValoOn seminar on 10 February 2021. The report describes the tourism sector based on the statistics of 2019, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the prospects for the future.
NordenBladet — Finland and Sweden will strengthen their cooperation and exchange of information in the field of civil preparedness and rescue services. On 10 February, Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo and Swedish Minister for Home Affairs Mikael Damberg signed a letter of intent on closer cooperation between Finland and Sweden.
“Sweden and Finland have been close partners for long, which provides a solid foundation for closer cooperation. Common challenges to our security include changes in the security policy situation in our neighbouring areas, climate change and the vulnerability of an interdependent society. Our common goal is to further strengthen cooperation between our countries in the field of civil preparedness and rescue services, so that we can together respond to a wide range of threats that we face,” say Ohisalo and Damberg.
Civil preparedness refers to measures taken to safeguard the functions vital to society, basic supply for the population and the State’s capacity to act in a crisis situation. The Ministry of the Interior’s sphere of responsibility includes, in particular, rescue services and civil defence. The Ministry of the Interior takes part in measures relating to security of supply and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats (CBRN ), for example.
Closer cooperation between neighbouring countries will build up skills and bring synergies
Finland and Sweden have similar experiences of threats, risks and vulnerabilities. The resilience of society is the responsibility of each country, but deeper cooperation between neighbouring countries will build up skills, bring synergies and provide better opportunities to plan, practise and be prepared for different crisis situations. Closer cooperation will also help the countries to provide and receive bilateral assistance and support more effectively. The purpose is to strengthen cooperation also in material preparedness and security of supply as well as in the development of resources for CBRNE incidents.
There is already a great deal of cooperation between the countries on civil preparedness and rescue services. A good example of Nordic cooperation is the Haga cooperation in the field of rescue services and preparedness, which Finland will chair this year. Bilateral cooperation in the field of rescue services is also ongoing and, for example it takes place on a daily basis in the Tornionjoki river valley.
However, in many areas of civil preparedness, cooperation between Finland and Sweden has a great deal of development potential and stronger cooperation is needed. Together, Finland and Sweden can exercise influence and act more effectively both in the European Union (e.g. EU civil protection cooperation) and in other international contexts (e.g. NATO Partnership for Peace programme).
NordenBladet – It became clear yesterday that the pharmaceutical company Pfizer will not be conducting a phase IV trial of its COVID-19 vaccine in Iceland, Morgunblaðið reports. Pfizer’s representatives stated that given how few cases of COVID-19 there are in Iceland, the chances were slim that such a study would yield useful results.
Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason, Kári Stefánsson, CEO of deCode Genetics, and Már Kristjánsson, head of Landspítali’s infectious disease division, met online yesterday with representatives of Pfizer to discuss the possibility of Pfizer conducting a study in Iceland in order to research, among other things, whether herd immunity could be achieved.
Þórólfur stated that at no stage had a draft agreement been in place. Expectations in society, therefore, had been too high.
Kári told mbl.is yesterday he believed media coverage of the talks had had a negative impact on their process.
A total of 4,856 people have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in Iceland, representing 1.33 percent of the nation. Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir has stated she finds it likely that by the middle of the year, more than half of the nation will have been vaccinated.
Þórólfur stated yesterday he expects vaccine deliveries to occur more rapidly during the second and third quarters than during the first one. For now, he wants to maintain our good progress in fighting the virus by efficiently organizing border testing.
He has mentioned the possibility of an obligatory stay at a quarantine facility upon arrival in the country until people have received the result of their second COVID-19 test, done four to five days after arrival. Making such a stay obligatory would be in accordance with the law, but the government has not revealed whether it plans to enact such a measure.
NordenBladet — On 10 February 2021, the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) submitted a letter to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment limiting its application of 2017 to decommission the FiR 1 research reactor in Otaniemi. The limitation concerns the return of the reactor’s spent fuel to the United States according to a programme agreed by Finland and the US in the 1960s.
“I am pleased that the fuel partly used in the Otaniemi reactor can be utilised in the same type of research reactor in the US. The correspondence and negotiations held in autumn 2020 will ensure the safe use and care of the fuel in future,” said Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.
VTT is responsible for the decommissioning and dismantling of the Otaniemi research reactor. This is the first dismantling project undertaken in Finland, and any lessons learned from it can be applied to similar projects and application procedures in future. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will submit VTT’s application to the Government for consideration in spring 2021. After the Government has granted authorisation, VTT can proceed with the dismantling of the reactor structures in Espoo’s Otaniemi campus area. VTT has already concluded an agreement under which Fortum Power and Heat Oy will manage the dismantling waste at its power plant in Loviisa.
Fuel transferred to US Geological SurveyThe Finnish Government acquired a research reactor from the United States for research and education purposes in 1960. Since 1962, it has been used for education, research, isotope production and other service provision. It was also used for radiation therapy in 1999–2012. VTT shut down the reactor permanently in 2015. Since then, VTT has prepared the decommissioning and dismantling of the reactor and arranged for a safe storage and final disposal of the fuel and waste generated in the dismantling. VTT’s first option has been to return the fuel to the United States. The return of the fuel has been prepared for years in accordance with a US Department of Energy programme. On 30 November 2020, VTT concluded an agreement with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the spent fuel was sent to the USGS in December 2020. The USGS received the fuel in January and is responsible for its management until it is transferred to the US Department of Energy for final disposal. The USGS is located in Denver and has a similar TRIGA research reactor as the Otaniemi FiR 1 reactor. The transport of fuel was supervised by Radiation Safety Agency (STUK), and in the US, by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the US Department of Transport (DOT). For more than 30 years, the USGS has carried out research aimed at the final disposal of radioactive waste and its long-term safety. This geological and hydrological research aims to ensure that the radioactive isotopes in the waste do not leak from the final repository to the biosphere and the human habitat.
NordenBladet — Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä held a meeting with Estonia’s new Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Andres Sutt on 9 February 2021. During the video conference, the ministers discussed the Finnish-Estonian cooperation and current EU issues.
In addition, the ministers exchanged views on the coronavirus epidemic and its effects on companies and tourism in particular. The ministers also touched on other issues that they consider central for Finland and Estonia, including climate objectives and digitalisation.
“The coronavirus did not have a significant impact on imports and exports between Finland and Estonia in 2020. The effects of the crisis are most evident in the service sector, such as tourism, and transport and construction. Finland shares Estonia’s concerns regarding these sectors. The current travel restrictions are based on a careful assessment and we hope that the situation will improve soon,” Minister Lintilä said.
Lintilä also congratulated Minister Sutt on his appointment. He took up his duties on 26 January.Finland and Estonia have very close economic relations. Finland is Estonia’s most important trading partner in goods and services. Estonia, on the other hand, is important for Finnish companies because many of them have production facilities there. Finland is the second most important foreign investor in Estonia. Estonian companies, on the other hand, are interested in the larger Finnish market.
