The Icelandic Ministry for the Environment. Environmental legislation in Iceland. Act on Hygiene and Pollution Prevention

The Icelandic Ministry for the Environment
Vonarstræti 4
IS - 101 Reykjavik
Iceland

Tel. + 354 545 8600
Fax + 354 562 4566

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The Ministry for the Environment was founded in 1990 and is the youngest ministry in the Icelandic Administration. The ministry's founding created the requisites for the government to formulate and enforce an integrated policy for environmental affairs.
The organisation of environmental affairs has changed since the founding of the Ministry for the Environment. Environmental legislation has been reviewed with an eye to its consistency with the guideline of sustainable development.
The ministry supervises the affairs pertaining to nature in Iceland, conservation and outdoor recreation, the protection of animals, wild-life management, pollution prevention, hygiene and food, planning and building matters, fire prevention, weather forecasting and avalanche-protection, surveying and cartography, environmental monitoring and surveillance.

Environmental studies in Iceland

General Policy Formulation
The Rio Conference on the environment and development in 1992 marked a milestone in environmental affairs, where the states of the world agreed to work toward conservation of the environment as well as an improved standard of living for mankind under the banner of sustainable development. In Iceland, the government has worked to put these goals into practice through general policy formulation.
In 1993, the government approved a policy formulated on the basis of the outcome of the Rio Conference, "Towards Sustainable Development". In 1997, the government approved an extensive implementation plan, "Sustainable development in Icelandic society, an implementation plan through the end of the century", which was an attempt to introduce the viewpoint of sustainable development into the main industries and parts of society. The implementation plan is a constant revision stage and a new implementation plan on Sustainable development in Icelandic society is due in 2002.

Protected areas in Iceland

National parks in Iceland

International Co-operation
International Co-operation and priorities plays a key role in environmental affairs since most of them share in common pertinence to more than one nation, and the nature of many of them is global in scope. The Ministry for the Environment ministers to multifaceted Nordic collaboration and supervises the implementation of international environmental protection agreements to which Iceland is a party. The ministry participates in the environmental efforts of many multinational organisations, such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the OECD. The ministry also handles the environmental and food aspects of the Agreement on the EEA. Emphasis on the environmental protection of the Arctic has grown in recent years. Iceland hosts two offices under the auspices of the Arctic Council, which see to the protection of the biosphere (CAFF) and marine environmental protection (PAME). Iceland’s emphasis in international co-operation has largely been focused on the protection and the management of the oceans and Iceland has played a significant role in bringing about the global programme of action for the protection of the marine environment from land-based activities and the Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants to name some.

Environmental legislation in Iceland

The Minister for the Environment and Nordic Co-operation
The Minister for the Environment is Ms. Siv Friðleifsdottir. In 1995, Ms. Fridleifsdottir was elected a Member of Parliament for the Progressive Party. She was Vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Social Security and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Affairs as well as a Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs 1995-1999. She was a member of the Icelandic Delegation to the Nordic Council, a member of the Surveillance Committee of the Nordic Investment Bank and Vice Chairman of the European Committee of the Nordic Council. 1995-1999, she served as a member of the Icelandic Delegation to the Assembly of the Western European Union. She became Minister for the Environment and Nordic Co-operation on May 28, 1999.

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