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Iceland

Iceland buys back its own natural resources

(Nordic Council News, 25 January 2011) -- The Icelandic government will buy back a privatised power station from its Canadian owners. This is the result of a proposal from the Left-wing Socialist Green Group in the Nordic Council, supported by the singer Björk. The Left-wing Green Socialists are now calling for state ownership of natural resources to be upheld in all the Nordic countries' constitutions. The proposal is being discussed at the Nordic Council's meetings in Finland on 25 - 26 January. The proposal for securing state ownership of all natural resources was launched in November in Reykjavik at the Nordic Council's annual summit of the Council's Left-wing Green Socialists (VSG). This initiative has already had consequences in Iceland where the government has now decided to buy back the power station HS Orka. The case was helped along by Björk, the world-famous singer, who collected 50,000 signatures in support of the VSG proposal - representing support from about one in seven Icelanders. In a press release the Left-wing Green Socialists stated: "The discussion has become a popular movement which will now ensure that the Icelandic government can win back that which was lost by the sale of the power station HS Orka". In addition to writing the ownership of natural resources by the people into the constitutions of the Nordic countries, the Left-wing Green Socialist MPs call for a guarantee that all income from the use of these resources will benefit the community. "It is gratifying to follow the result of our proposal through developments in Iceland. Norway, for example, has good experience of state ownership of natural resources, such as water and hydroelectric power, even to the satisfaction of the business community", says Alf Holmelid, member of the Left-wing Green Socialists Group representing the Norwegian Socialist Left Party. The proposal has now been submitted for consideration by the Nordic Council, which will then decide whether to recommend the governments to proceed further.

Posted 26 January 2011; 2:09:53 PM. Permalink

Tagged: Circumpolar News, Economic issues, Energy, Iceland, January11