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November 19, 2021
This year, Landsvirkjun receives the Climate Recognition Award from Festa and the City of Reykjavík.
Special incentive recognition is given to the project Climate-friendly agriculture, which is a joint project of the Advisory Center for Agriculture, Land Reclamation, Forestry, the Ministry of Business and Innovation and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources.
The awards were presented at the Climate Meeting of Festa and Reykjavík City this morning, but the meeting was broadcast live from Harpa. The title of this year's meeting was Vision and next steps. This is the fifth time the award has been given, but the goal is to draw attention to what is being done well in climate matters and to be an inspiration to others.
The jury consisted of Líf Magneudóttir, city councilor and chairman of the Environment and Health Council (representative of the City of Reykjavík), Arnar Þór Másson, chairman of Marel (representative of Festa) and Lára Jóhannsdóttir, professor of environmental and natural resources studies (representative of the University of Iceland).
Loftslagsmálin þurfa á öllum að halda
„Loftslagsmálin þurfa á öllum að halda,“ segir Dagur B. Eggertsson borgarstjóri Reykavíkurborgar. „Það vekur mér bjartsýni að sjá hvað loftslagsyfirlýsing Reykjavíkurborgar og Festu frá 2015 hefur leitt af sér mikinn árangur og áhuga í íslensku atvinnulífi. Enn eru fleiri leiðandi fyrirtæki að bætast við, setja sér markmið og skrá árangurinn. Loftslagsmálin verða ekki leyst öðruvísi en með breiðu samstarfi allra í samfélaginu og raunar heiminum öllum en þar er atvinnulífið og borgirnar sérstaklega mikilvægur hlekkur, þar verður mestur útblásturinn til og þaðan koma lausnirnar líka,“ segir hann og bætir við að Reykjavík vilji vera leiðandi og í virku samstarfi við atvinnulífið í loftslagsmálum.
"We want to attract new investment and new projects in green solutions to the city. I have also recently suggested that we set up a system that creates competition between companies towards carbon neutrality. Some kind of gold, silver, bronze system where the gold would be that carbon neutrality was achieved, silver would be for companies that had set a plan for carbon neutrality, and bronze would be for those that had set other goals, but goals nonetheless," he says further.
Kallað eftir sjálfbærni í rekstri
Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir, the executive director of Festa, says that this year's climate meeting was "a very informative, stimulating and fun meeting". She says that the development is fast at the moment. "Business models, laws, regulations and information related to operations, the priorities of investors, consumers, employees and lenders are changing extremely quickly due to climate change and technological development. The UN climate meeting earlier in the month greatly sharpened the situation, actions and opportunities that we need to seize if we are going to be competitive and be part of exciting opportunities. Festa's mission is to support and speed up our journey towards sustainability as a basic strategy in operations. It is the business model that is called for," she says.
A record number was added in one year
The climate meeting is held annually, but its beginning can be traced back to the signing of the Climate Declaration by the City of Reykjavík and Festa in the run-up to the Paris Agreement in 2015. This year, 11 companies joined, but in total around 170 companies have signed the declaration with the aim of reducing emissions and waste. This is a record number that has been added in one year since the initial signing, but there are different companies involved, from small grocery stores to pension funds.
Hörður Arnarson, Jóna Bjarnadóttir and Jóhanna Hlín Auðunsdóttir accept the recognition on behalf of Landsvirkjun, which was handed over by mayor Degi B.Eggertsson, Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir executive director. Festu and Líf Magneudóttir, chairman of the jury
"Climate issues need everyone"
Energy issues are climate issues
"We are extremely proud of this recognition of our policy and work in recent years, where all staff have worked together so that we can be a leader in climate issues," says Jóna Bjarnadóttir, manager of the Society and Environment department at Landsvirkjun. "We will definitely continue on the same path, and this recognition is an incentive for us to do so," she says.
"We take climate change seriously and this is reflected in all our activities," says Hörður Arnarson, CEO of Landsvirkjun. "Our renewable energy production gives us a big advantage, and Landsvirkjun will continue to contribute to us achieving the results we are aiming for in climate matters. Icelanders can become the first nation in the world to get rid of fossil fuels and we can complete a full energy transition in the coming years. Energy issues are climate issues," he concludes.
In particular, success in reducing total emissions and disclosure is considered
During the evaluation, the jury looked at various factors, but in particular the success that has already been achieved in reducing the total emission of greenhouse gases and how detailed the information is regarding the entire value chain. This year, the company that has measured its direct climate impact for years and achieved significant success in reducing the emission of greenhouse gases in its own operations became the sharpest.
The justification of the jury for Landsvirkjun states: "Landsvirkjun is aiming for carbon neutrality in 2025. The company has been working for years on providing information about its carbon footprint and, among other things, has worked to assess the internal carbon price, which is an incentive to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in daily operations. Climate accounting has been verified by an external party, the company has received a high rating from the international body Carbon Disclosure Project – CDP or A-. The company also has a real-time dashboard for actions in climate matters, extensive cooperation regarding innovative projects and the company's product is energy from a renewable resource with a low carbon footprint.
Landsvirkjun has reduced direct emissions (scope 1) by 3,171 tons of CO2 equivalents between 2019 and 2020 or 8%. Looking at all emissions, emissions have decreased by 3,919 tonnes of CO2 equivalents or 7%. Emissions per unit of energy have also decreased, which affects the carbon footprint of all of Landsvirkjun's customers. The jury encourages Landsvirkjun to continue to do good work, including by adding measurements and information regarding scope 3, so that measurements and external certification will be without limitation."
„Við tökum loftslagsbreytingum alvarlega og það endurspeglast í allri okkar starfsemi“
An invaluable incentive for farmers
"Climate-friendly agriculture is very grateful for this important recognition. It is an invaluable incentive for farmers to be active participants in the climate journey and strengthens us who stand behind the project to continue unabated. The strength of the project lies in the strong collaboration between three professionals and two ministries, which is one of the key aspects of successfully finding solutions for how farmers can work on climate issues in a positive way," says Berglind Ósk Alfreðsdóttir, project manager for Climate-Friendly Agriculture.
"The recognition encourages participating farmers to do their best in their climate projects and makes them powerful role models in climate issues in agriculture. This recognition will be symbolic of the project's direction and will be useful in shaping its future," she says.
Farmers encourage targeted climate action
Í umsögn dómnefndar um Loftslagsvænan landbúnað segir: „Verkefnið miðar að því, með fræðslu, að hvetja bændur til markvissra loftslagsaðgerða og nýsköpunar. Í dag eru 40 bændur þátttakendur í verkefninu og er stutt með beinum hætti við þeirra eigin markmiðasetningu í loftslagsmálum með fræðslu og ráðgjöf. Búrekstrargögn eru sett inn í kolefnisreiknivél þar sem kolefnisígildi búsins eru reiknuð út. Lögð er áhersla á að samþætta rekstrarlegan ávinning og loftslagsávinning þátttakenda. Spennandi verður að fylgjast með hvernig verkefninu mun miða áfram, hver mælanlegu áhrifin verða og hvaða nýju lausnir og aðferðir verða til í framtíðinni út frá verkefninu.“
Berglind Ósk Alfreðsdóttir project manager for Climate Friendly Agriculture, Borgar Páll Bragason RML, Gustav M. Ásbjörnsson from the Land Plantation, Valdimar Reynisson from Forestry and Salóme Hallfreðsdóttir from the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources accept the recognition on behalf of Climate Friendly Agriculture
„Viðurkenningin hvetur þátttökubændur til dáða í sínum loftslagsverkefnum og gerir þá að öflugum fyrirmyndum í loftslagsmálum landbúnaðarins“
Fyrri handhafar viðurkenningunnar
Those who have received the recognition so far are: 2020: Landspítali. Carbfix received an innovation award. 2019: EFLA engineering firm. 2018: Klappir Grænar Lausnir hf. In addition, 3 were nominated: ÁTVR, Efla engineering office and IKEA. 2017: HB Grandi. In addition, the website flifslag.is received an educational and informational recognition for climate issues and ISAVIA received a motivational recognition.
Ljósmyndari: Eggert Jóhannsson
