H.E. Dr. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland
Olafur Ragnar Grimsson is the current President of Iceland. He was first elected
in 1996, then re-elected in 2000 and again in 2004. Prior to that he was a professor at the University of Iceland for
political science, served as Member of Althing, was Minister of Finance
(1988–1991) and served as chairman of the left People's Alliance (1987–1995).
On January 1, 2008 he announced that he will seek a fourth term in office.
Raising the idea publicly for the first time, Iceland President Olafur Grimmson proposes a Himalayan Council (similar to the Arctic Council) to deal with the challenge of the melting Himalayan glaciers, which will adversely affect millions of people.
President Grimsson discusses ten new security issues facing the world because of climate change, including increased drought, flooding, and migration, and the opening up of new sea routes caused by the melting of the Arctic ice.
Iceland President Olafur Grimsson discusses wind power and the value of combining different clean energy sources--solar, wind, geothermal--within the same power system. African countries, India, China and many others have great potential to create networks of clean energy sources.
