Offisielt besøk til Japan: Arctic Frontiers

Your Imperial Highness,
Excellencies,
Students,
Distinguished audience,

Konnichiwa! 
I am very happy to be back in beautiful Japan, and Tokyo.

It took a while to get here, because Japan and Norway are literally on opposite sides of the world. Your home is in the Pacific Ocean, ours is in the North Atlantic.

Night time here is day time in Norway. The language is totally different; the food is different, although I must admit that yours is amazing. Japan has perfected the art of compact living with its 120 million inhabitants, while Norway is a country of 5,5 million people, and where your next-door neighbour can be miles away. Japan’s trains always run on time. Norwegian trains run on time…mostly.

Well, it is not difficult to spot the differences between us. Yet, our two countries actually have a lot in common. Let us look at this map for a moment.

As we can see, our countries are about the same size. We also have about the same distribution of populated areas versus wild nature and mountain areas.

We share the same kind of pride in our nature, a joy in exploring it, and a dedication to preserving it. 

Above all, both Japan and Norway are coastal nations, with fishery and shipping in our DNA. We are seafaring people, who have lived by and off the ocean throughout our history. The ocean unites us.

Now – I would like to start this session and introduce todays Arctic theme with one particular word. One word that I believe the Japanese and the Norwegian people share strong feelings for:
Snow.

I love snow. It’s amazing for sports. It looks beautiful…
I like the silence, the lightnes and the brightnes of it.

Because both our nations are fortunate to still have snowy winters, we both have developed a strong culture for winter sports. And among the finest, most impressive winter athletes – we find Noriaki Kasai.

Kasai was born in 1972, and made his world cup debut in Sapporo as a sixteen year old in 1988. For my family, it has been a yearly tradition to attend the ski jump competition in Holmenkollen since 1905. So we started even before Kasai made his debut. Still, for decades my family has had the pleasure of watching Kasai sail through the air. In 2016, when Kasai had participated in 490 runs, he was awarded with Norwegian ski sport’s highest award – The Holmenkollen medal.

I believe we can say that Kasai is the epitome of Japanese dedication and stamina. I’m not sure if he will ever really retire.

All of us who love winter sports have reason to be proud of him – not only the Japanese.

Your Imperial Highness,
Distinguished audience,
Let this be a bridge to today’s issue – which I believe we can sum up like this:

The importance of broad partnerships and close cooperation in our common strive for stability and sustainable development in the Arctic region.

The Arctic, and the oceans, are important parts of Norway’s ties with Japan. Our cooperation on Arctic issues dates back many decades. Japan’s research presence in Ny-Ålesund, in the Norwegian island of Svalbard, was established in 1991, and our academic institutions have over several decades worked closely together in polar and ocean research.

Since 2013 we have appreciated working with Japan who is an observer in the Arctic Council, which is the most important forum for multilateral cooperation on Arctic issues. The Arctic and the Antarctic are specifically mentioned in Japan and Norway’s joint statement on strategic partnership from 2023. And there was a substantial Japanese representation at this year’s Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø – I believe some of you present here today were there.

To Norwegians, the Arctic is our home. Almost one out of ten Norwegians live in the Arctic region. Security in the Arctic is therefore of utmost importance for Norway. This is of course also due to our geography and proximity to Russia, with a shared border close to 200 km.

Our Arctic communities are witnessing the dramatic impacts of climate change first-hand. The ice cap is melting, and air and water temperatures are rising more rapidly than anywhere else in the world. We must make it a priority to fully understand the implications of this - for our nations, for our local Arctic communities, for nature and wildlife – and for the global climate.

Many businesses and institutions located in the Norwegian Arctic are on the cutting edge when it comes to low-carbon technologies, renewable energy, space and polar research. These are areas where we already work closely with Japanese counterparts – and we believe there is still an untapped potential.

Distinguished audience,
The Arctic, the global climate and the state of the ocean are closely interlinked. 
The ocean is our shared life-support system, and it is our shared responsibility.
The ocean regulates our climate, feeds us, and supports our livelihoods.

During my visit here in Japan, I will also attend the Island States Ocean Summit.
For islands, the ocean is particularly important for livelihoods and culture. Climate change and the poor state of the ocean make small islands increasingly vulnerable.

I saw this for myself, when I visited Fiji, Samoa and Tonga in my capacity as UNDP goodwill ambassador back in 2019. Threats are not distant, but highly present: sea level rise, extreme weather, loss of fisheries and coral reefs.

As a maritime nation that is strong in ocean science, Japan is well placed to host the Island States Ocean Summit. I hope to see some of you there again tomorrow. 

Your Imperial Highness,
Distinguished audience,
Princess Takamado pointed out something very important about the interconnectedness of life on earth in her speech at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Iceland last October – and I quote:

“For the human species, the whole world has become our habitat. For all living creatures, the greatest danger lies in the loss or degradation of their habitat, and species that have adapted to specific ecological niches are the most vulnerable. Human activities affect the remotest corners of the Earth. The human species has become a threat to the existence and survival of other lifeforms.” End of quote.

Being an Arctic nation is both a privilege and a responsibility. Norway has a long tradition of working to strike a balance between sustainable use and conservation of ocean areas in the north. This is a never-ending and challenging task, and we still have a lot of work to do.

In closing, I would like to return to my passion for snow and ice, as an advocate for protecting the Arctic.

Four years ago, I had the privilege of joining an expedition organised by the University of Tromsø – the Arctic University of Norway – kiting and skiing across the Greenland ice sheet. The objective of the expedition was to raise awareness and disseminate knowledge about polar history and research in the Arctic. But I must admit: It was also adream come true.

Just picture this:
The landscape is breathtaking. Endlessly white. There are 3000 metres of ice beneath my skis. It’s hard to belive that human activity can affect this vast amount of ice at all! And suddenly I am profoundly struck by the importance of research, of science. 

Because – without science, how can any of us understand the impact our way of living has on the ice sheet in Greenland – and on the planet, on the lives of billions of people? It is research that enables us to connect the dots. 

A fitting text to this picture – and the feeling I had on parts of the trip, could be the haiku poem by the 1500th century poet Basho: 

Wintry wind—
Passing a man
With a swollen face.

So, ladies and gentlemen,
we have a lot to protect and to preserve. To sustain and to strive for.
Our ultimate goal is to bring back the balance that we have lost.
In the end, the wellbeing of the Arctic is critical for our own well-being.

Thank you all for being here. For sharing your knowledge, exchanging your research, and strengthening cooperation – for all of us.