“It’s like Christmas in August!”

There were many highlights at this year’s Arendalsuka. Here we focus on some of these moments, both big and small!

Save Our Snow, while being the name of the event at Arendalsuka 2024, is also a campaign initiated by ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development) to bring attention to the changing cryosphere in the Hindu Kush Himalaya. This discussion took place around the cosy Lavvu’s fireplace, bringing together people from the Hindu Kush Himalaya and the Arctic. There, they discussed common challenges, and what knowledge systems can be used to tackle them.

The value of Indigenous people and their knowledge was a key highlight, as they have been adapting to change for generations and can therefore be a beacon of hope and inspiration for us as we face an uncertain future.

During the panel debate on “The environmental impacts of conflict”, GRID-Arendal’s Nataliia Gerasymenko presented a heartfelt and powerful presentation, drawing from her experiences as a Ukrainian escaping war and the reports published by GRID-Arendal on the impact of conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. Karen Landmark, the Managing Director of GRID Arendal, concluded wisely, “The most environmentally friendly thing we can do is create peace”.

Later that evening, at the event “Inside the INC Process: Unveiling Plastic Treaty Negotiations”, we heard Magnus Løvold from The Norwegian Academy of International Law state that ending the plastic age is as realistic as we allow it to be. He also emphasised that we need to go all in on making this happen. It is our most important task right now from a Norwegian perspective on environment.

After a sing-along of “All you need is love”, the Constructive Institute entered the stage alongside GRID-Arendal and NRK for the event called “Exploring Constructive Journalism: a tool for saving the world!”. Ulrik Haagerup, CEO of the Constructive Institute implored the message that it is extremely important to change the way we do journalism. In the age of AI, we need more than ever news we can trust. With a curious and solution-based approach, the news revolution has started!

The evening moved into what was described as one of the most inspiring talks of Arendalsuka, namely the event called Peaks of Change – a conversation between Kristin Harila and Karen Landmark. Climber Kristin Harila explained her new mission of cleaning up the waste left by climbers in the Himalaya. She explained how she estimates the clean-up project will take five years, and that it must happen right away, because there is no time to lose.

She looked the audience in the eye and said “I know the mountains; I need money so I can put together a team and make a base camp. I need people in my base camp to know what to do with the waste. I need all the help in the world, and I need people to help. We need to spread the word”.

She ended with the powerful send off that stating your goal is a powerful way of manifesting. “I was sure I was going to take the record, and I am sure we are going to make this (clean up the mountains). If you do not believe in what you are doing, you should be doing something else”. 

The evening then turned into the Green Mingle, hosted by GRID-Arendal, CICERO, and UN Global Compact Norge.

Wednesday morning started with an event on the main stage of Arendal Culture house called “The 1,5-degree target is lost. What is the plan now?” Here, GRID-Arendal was part of facilitating a panel debate where the science of geoengineering was discussed as a solution to the climate crisis.

Kristin Halvorsen, CEO of CICERO, stated that “it is incredibly important to have transparency here, because there is a lot of secrecy in this area. If we only rely on climate manipulation, we will get a back-lash afterwards, as the manipulation is just covering the problem, not solving it.”

UArctic, GRID-Arendal, and Arctic Centre/University of Lapland published a library of climate interventions that was launched at this event.

In the afternoon, GRID-Arendal headed to the massive Lavvu located at the top of Fløyheia in Arendal. Here the event was “Climate-risk, 2050 is already here!”.

Mikkel Eskil Mikkelsen from the Sami Parliament, presented his findings from a recent report on how climate change is affecting the indigenous population. He explained how loss of nature can mean loss of culture, language, and identity.

Bjørn Vidar Vangelsten from Nordlandsforskning ended the bonfire conversation with a hopeful message: “We need another story. Today, the story is that we need growth. But the growth is not giving us the happiness we think we are getting. But it takes time to change this story.”

Thursday afternoon started with another bonfire conversation in the Lavvu with the title “Polar Promise: Himalayan-Arctic Collaboration for better future”.

Pema Gyamtsho, from our partner organization ICIMOD, emphasized how we know about the North Pole and the South Pole, but the Himalaya is also melting.

Anders Oskal, from International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry, stated that we must use the best available knowledge, and that is the indigenous knowledge. For the future, indigenous knowledge and science should go hand in hand forward.

A blue carbon enthusiast, a skeptic, and a bureaucrat walk into a debate…. There’s no punchline, but this scenario resulted in a lively discussion on what would be considered by most a very niche topic! Blue carbon credits, markets, drivers, sustainable finance and more were touched upon at the final GRID-Arendal event for Arendalsuka 2024.

“We need to be getting it right from the start,” said WWF’s Karoline Andaur. “There are lessons to learn from certification schemes and other ‘solutions’ that don’t address the drivers behind the degradation of our environment.”

With 10 events under our belt, this year was our biggest Arendalsuka yet! And we’re excited to see what topics and conversations are sparked this coming year.

“Arendalsuka is right here where we are, providing the perfect stage to connect with our key partners and like-minded organizations,” said Maria Dalby, Head of Media Relations at GRID-Arendal. “This year’s events highlighted how we tackle the most pressing environmental issues, ensuring that we lead and orchestrate the crucial conversations that matter.”