Master’s thesis

in Environment and Natural Resources

Westfjords and the EarthCheck environmental certificate Cooperation between and companies

Kristín Halldóra Halldórsdóttir

Instructor: Helga Ögmundardóttir Graduation month October 2020

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Westfjords and the EarthCheck environmental certificate Cooperation between municipalities and companies

Kristín Halldóra Halldórsdóttir

Final thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of a MA degree in Environment and Natural Resources Instructor: Helga Ögmundardóttir 30 ECTS

Faculty of Sociology, Anthropology and Folkloristics School of Social Sciences, University of Graduation October 2020

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Westfjords and the EarthCheck environmental certificate: cooperation between municipalities and companies

This final thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of a MA degree in Environment and Natural Resources. The thesis may not be copied in any form without the author’s permission. © Kristín Halldóra Halldórsdóttir, 2020

Reykjavik, Iceland, 2020

iii Útdráttur

Sveitarfélög á Vestfjörðum hafa fengið starfsemi sína umhverfisvottaða af EarthCheck. EarthCheck vottunin leggur þá skyldu á herðar sveitarfélaganna að bæta frammistöðu sína í umhverfismálum og vinna að sjálfbærri þróun. Íbúar Vestfjarða og fyrirtæki á svæðinu eru ekki skuldbundin til að uppfylla þau viðmið sem EarthCheck setur. Markmiðið með þessari rannsókn er að kanna hversu mikla þekkingu forsvarsfólk fyrirtækja á Vestfjörðum hefur á EarthCheck umhverfisvottuninni auk þess að greina hvaða leiðir eru færar til að hvetja fyrirtæki á Vestfjörðum til að leggja meiri áherslu á umhverfismál.

Til að öðlast dýpri skilning á viðhorfum þátttakanda var beitt eigindlegri rannsóknaraðferð. Alls voru tekin 16 viðtöl við starfsmenn fyrirtækja á Vestfjörðum. Þau voru tekin í júlí og ágúst 2020. Niðurstöðurnar gefa til kynna að fyrirtæki á svæðinu hafi ekki mikla þekkingu á EarthCheck umhverfisvottuninni. Einnig töldu viðmælendur að sveitarfélög á Vestfjörðum legðu almennt ekki mikla áherslu á umhverfismál. Flestir viðmælendur telja að mjög mikilvægt sé fyrir rekstur fyrirtækja að hafa umhverfisvottun eða mótaða umhverfisstefnu, því viðskiptavinir þeirra krefðust iðulega upplýsinga um hvort starfsemin sé sjálfbær. Stór hluti viðmælenda vildi einnig auka samstarf sveitarfélaga og fyrirtækja á Vestfjörðum í umhverfismálum og töldu sumir að aukin þátttaka almennings gæti ýtt undir árangursríkt samstarf. Niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar benda til að sveitarfélög á Vestfjörðum eigi kost á að auka samstarf sitt við fyrirtæki á svæðinu og sameina krafta allra til að efla sjálfbæra þróun á Vestfjörðum.

iv Abstract

The municipalities in the Westfjords have been awarded with an EarthCheck environmental certificate. This certificate requires the municipalities to reduce their environmental impact and work towards achieving sustainable development, while the residents and the companies operating within each are not required to follow the EarthCheck guidelines. This study aims to determine what knowledge the companies in the Westfjords have about the EarthCheck certificate and how the companies can be encouraged to put more emphasis on environmental issues.

A qualitative research method was used for this research to gain a deep understanding of the participants’ views and opinions. There were 16 interviews conducted in July and August 2020, with representatives from companies in the Westfjords. The results of the study indicate that the companies in the Westfjords do not have much knowledge about the EarthCheck certificate and they felt that their municipalities had not been putting much emphasis on environmental issues in general. Most companies acknowledged the importance of having an environmental policy or a certificate because their customers frequently requested information about whether their operation was sustainable. Many of the participants wanted increased cooperation with their municipality on environmental issues and some of them suggested that one way to achieve that is by increasing public participation with the companies. These results suggest that the municipalities in the Westfjords have a potential for increasing cooperation with companies in the Westfjords which might facilitate an environment where they can unitedly work towards achieving sustainable development.

v Preface

This master’s thesis which is valid for 30ECT was conducted in July and August 2020 under the supervision of Helga Ögmundardóttir, lecturer at the University of Iceland. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone that made this study possible. For starters, I would like to thank Bjargey Anna Guðbrandsdóttir for suggesting this project for my master‘s thesis. I would also like to thank María Hildur Maack from the Westfjords Nature Research Centre for entrusting me with this project because without her, this project would not have happened. I couldn’t be more thankful that María applied for a grant on my behalf at the Icelandic Centre for Research which made it possible for me to spend the whole summer focusing all my attention on this thesis without having to work a full time job elsewhere as well. Without mentioning any specific names I would like to thank those that made it possible for me to travel in the Westfjords for three weeks by providing me with a place to stay. Moreover, I would like to thank all the participants that put time aside for the interview during the summer vacation season. I couldn’t be more thankful for my parents who have always supported me and given me the confidence to finish my master’s degree. Finally, I would like to thank Helga Ögmundardóttir for her support on this master’s thesis, for answering my endless questions and listening to my concerns.

vi Table of Contents

Útdráttur ...... iv Abstract ...... v Preface ...... vi List of Tables ...... viii List of Figures ...... ix 1 Introduction ...... 1 2 The municipalities in the Westfjords ...... 7 2.1 Population decline ...... 11 2.2 Transportation ...... 16 2.3 Occupation ...... 18 2.4 EarthCheck environmental certificate ...... 23 2.5 EarthCheck and the Westfjords ...... 26

3 Methodology ...... 31 4 Results ...... 35 4.1 Lack of information on the EarthCheck environmental certificate ...... 35 4.2 Small size of the municipalities ...... 41 4.3 Public Participation ...... 47 4.4 The value of an environmental policy ...... 52

5 Discussion ...... 61 6 Conclusion ...... 63 References ...... 66 Appendix – Interview questionnaire ...... 74

vii List of Tables

Table 1. Population in the municipalities in the Westfjords on January 1st, 2020 (Hagstofan, 2020)...... 9

viii List of Figures

Figure 1. The Westfjords in Iceland (Byggðastofnun, n.d.) (blue square added by author)...... 7 Figure 2. The nine municipalities in the Westfjords (Landmælingar Ísland, 2014)...... 8 Figure 3. Population Decline in the Westfjords from 1998 – 2020 (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c)...... 12

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1 Introduction This thesis provides the reader with a basic understanding of the municipalities in the Westfjords, the challenges they are dealing with in relation to population decline, transportation and occupation, as well as the EarthCheck environmental certificate that they have been awarded with. The objective of this thesis is to explore what the companies in the Westfjords know about the EarthCheck environmental certificate and how companies in the Westfjords can be encouraged to put more emphasis on environmental issues.

The interviews conducted for this thesis will also be used by the Westfjords Nature Research Centre which is both a research and service institute focusing on the natural sciences in the Westfjords and is also responsible for the work needed to maintain the EarthCheck certificate (Náttúrustofa Vestfjarða, n.d.). The Westfjords Nature Research Centre’s objective with this research is to gain a deeper insight into how the companies in the Westfjords perceive environmental issues and whether they are willing to enhance cooperation with their municipality to put more emphasis on environmental issues. The project with the Westfjords Nature Research Centre was to be based on 18 interviews, but due to time constraint, only 16 interviews were conducted for this master’s thesis. The last two interviews have not yet been conducted which can in part be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic which made some potential participants reluctant to participate in this study. This master’s thesis is separate from the report that the Westfjords Nature Research Centre will receive at the end of the project. They did not influence the outcome of the study even though they have specific plans for using the results of the interviews. The Westfjords Nature Research Centre only specified that they wanted to know more about the companies views and opinions on environmental issues, but they did not in any way specify what they hoped the results would look like. I constructed the questionnaire used in the interviews and selected the companies to be interviewed. I received consultation from María Hildur Maack from the Westfjords Nature Research Centre, but the final layout of the questionnaire and the companies selected were up to me. The results presented here in this master’s thesis are not based on the Westfjords Nature Research

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Centre interest in the topic or hopeful results, it only reflects an academic analysis of the interviews wherein coding was used to identify themes in the interviews. I received a full grant from the Student Innovation Fund (Nýsköpunarsjóður Námsmanna) to work on my master’s thesis for a three-month period (June, July and August 2020). The Student Innovation Fund does not have any vested interest in this study nor do they direct the study in any way. The grant I received from them is not dependent on any specific results. The second chapter, The Municipalities in the Westfjords, has five subchapters. This chapter, however, starts with a brief introduction to the nine municipalities in the Westfjords. There are 7115 residents in the Westfjords (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c) spread across nine municipalities: Árneshreppur, Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður, Ísafjarðarbær, Kaldraneshreppur, Reykhólahreppur, Súðavíkurhreppur, Strandabyggð, Tálknafjarðarhreppur and Vesturbyggð (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). The population count in these municipalities varies greatly, ranging from 43 people in Árneshreppur to 3809 people in Ísafjarðarbær (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c). All municipalities in Iceland, regardless of their size, are required by law to provide certain services to their inhabitants to maintain the school system, street constructions, social service, fire protection and more (Samgöngu- og sveitarstjórnarráðuneytið, 2017). The government of Iceland has the forced amalgamation of the municipalities in Iceland on their action plan for 2019 – 2023 which would set a 1000 minimum population count in the municipalities in Iceland by the 2026 local election (Þingskjal 890, 2019-2020). This would impact at least six of the nine municipalities in the Westfjords that have a population of less than 1000 inhabitants (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c). The subchapter Population decline, explores the population decline that the Westfjords have been experiencing in the last couple of decades as more people have emigrated from the Westfjords than have immigrated to the area (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). The emigration of young adults is especially prominent and can mainly be attributed to the limited options for higher education in the Westfjords which results in young adults moving to other areas to study and then often don’t return back to the Westfjords because there is also limited availability of job opportunities for university educated individuals (Eydal et al., 2016). The main occupation fields in the Westfjords,

2 the fishing industry is also androcentric and mainly requires uneducated workers, so even though there is growth in the fish farming industry in the Westfjords it does not solve the underlying problem with emigration of young adults (Eydal et al., 2016). The road conditions in the Westfjords are discussed in the subchapter Transportation. They are considered to be a contributing factor to the population decline in the area because the long driving distances between different municipalities makes it hard to live in one area and seek employment in another (Nefnd um samfélags- og atvinnuþróun á Vestfjörðum, 2016). Furthermore, the Westfjords are very mountainous so many roads go through high mountain passes and some of them become impassable in the winter time because they are not cleared of snow (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). The road conditions not only make it hard for residents to seek work outside their municipalities, it also limits their access to health care and other services (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). The third subchapter, Occupation, explores the main occupation fields in the Westfjords. The economy in the Westfjords is mostly based on primary production of marine products, such as fishing, fish farming, algae processing and calcareous algae processing (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). The tourism industry is also growing in the Westfjords, although it’s mainly concentrated to the summer months (Eydal et al., 2016). The problems these industries are facing are mostly connected to poor road conditions which can hinder transportation of goods from the area in the winter time as well as limits tourism to the summer time because some of the roads are impassable in the winter time (Eydal et al., 2016). The problems with these main occupational fields is that they mainly require uneducated workers which does not solve the pre-existing population decline problem (Eydal et al., 2016). The municipalities in the Westfjords unitedly applied for an EarthCheck certificate in 2006 both to improve their environmental performance and because they believed the EarthCheck certificate could be beneficial for companies in the Westfjords to market their products as well as presenting the Westfjords as a sustainable tourism destination (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). This subject is explored in the subchapters EarthCheck environmental certificate and EarthCheck and the Westfjords. EarthCheck is the only environmental organization that gives environmental certificates to communities

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(EarthCheck, n.d.-b). Their aim is to enhance the environmental and social performance of companies or communities by limiting their environmental impact and move towards sustainability (EarthCheck, n.d.-a). After applying for the EarthCheck certificate in 2006 and passing the EarthCheck audit which is based on 12 key benchmarking indicators which focus on social and environmental performance, the municipalities in the Westfjords were awarded with an EarthCheck certificate in November 2012 (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). As a part of the EarthCheck certificate the municipalities are required to register and send in information about their resource use as well as make a plan that is updated every year, about the projects they plan to work on that year (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). The aim of the EarthCheck certificate is also to increase visibility about what the municipalities are doing on environmental issues with the goal of increasing public involvement on environmental issues (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). However, one of the limitations of the EarthCheck certificate is that it only requires the municipalities themselves to improve their environmental performance, while companies in the municipalities are not required to do so (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). In light of the discussion here above the objective of this master’s thesis is to answer the following research questions: 1) what do the participants know about the EarthCheck environmental certificate that the municipalities in the Westfjords have been awarded with and 2) how can companies in the Westfjords be encouraged to put more emphasis on environmental issues? The third chapter, Methodology, discusses the qualitative research methods which was used in this study. There were 16 semi-structured interviews conducted on representatives from companies in the Westfjords. The interviews were then transcribed and coded to identify themes. The results of the study are presented in the fourth chapter, Results, which is divided into four subchapters by themes. The name of the first subchapter, Lack of information on the EarthCheck certificate, describes the zero or very limited knowledge the participants had about the EarthCheck certificate. The municipalities in the Westfjords had not contacted any of the companies the participants worked at to introduce the EarthCheck certificate and most participants had also not heard any discussion about EarthCheck in their community. Some of the participants could not believe that the Westfjords were environmentally certified because they thought that there were some

4 environmentally unfriendly activities occurring in the Westfjords that they did not think were compatible with the area being environmentally certified. Moreover, many participants had not witnessed that the municipalities were putting much emphasis on environmental issues. Small size of the municipalities is the second theme. In this chapter we explore how the small population size of the municipalities affect the operation of the municipalities in the Westfjords. It was frequently mentioned that the small municipalities were not well equipped to handle various important issues because they were continually in a defensive struggle to try to combat the population decline, increase job opportunities and improve road conditions. The small population of the municipalities also brought on issues with cliquishness and some of the participants felt that there were old families that controlled everything and that some individuals and companies were given preferential treatment over others. The amalgamation of the municipalities in the Westfjords was commonly brought up as one solution to these issues as some participants felt that larger municipalities would be better equipped to focus on environmental issues. Public participation is the third theme. Many participants mentioned that they wanted increased cooperation between companies and the municipalities so they could unitedly work towards improving their environmental performance. One part of public participation is educating the public about environmental issues, and some smaller companies mentioned that they would like to improve their environmental performance but either did not have the financial resources to hire someone to assist them or did not know what steps they could take to improve. It would therefore be beneficial for them if they could get consultation on these issues from their municipality. The fourth subchapter, The value of an environmental policy, explores the participants views about the importance of environmental policies for their companies. Many of the participants worked at companies that use raw material from the ocean for their production and in their experience, an environmental policy or a certificate was financially beneficial for their company because it was both easier to sell products that were environmentally certified and they were able to secure higher prices for those products. Moreover, many participants argued that companies should focus on environmental issues because companies rely on having access to clean natural

5 environment and if they operate in an unsustainable manner, they are only damaging the future of their own company.

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2 The municipalities in the Westfjords The Westfjords is a large peninsula in the north-western part of Iceland that is connected to the main part of Iceland with a 11-km-wide strip of land, between Gilsfjörður and Bitrufjörður (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). Figure 1 is a picture of Iceland, and the region inside the blue square shows the location of the Westfjords. The total area of the Westfjords is 8700 km2, or 8.5% of the total landmass of Iceland (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b).

Figure 1. The Westfjords in Iceland (Byggðastofnun, n.d.) (blue square added by author).

The Westfjords are sparsely populated with a total population of 7115 people (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c) or around 0,8 inhabitants per square kilometre compared to 218 inhabitants per square kilometre in the of Iceland (Byggðastofnun, 2019). The Westfjords are commonly divided into three regions; the southern Westfjords (sunnanverðir Vestfirðir), northern Westfjords (norðanverðir Vestfirðir) and Reykhólar and Strandir (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). There are nine municipalities in the Westfjords; Árneshreppur, Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður, Ísafjarðarbær, Kaldraneshreppur, Reykhólahreppur, Súðavíkurhreppur, Strandabyggð, Tálknafjarðarhreppur and Vesturbyggð (see figure 2) (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). Two thirds of the population of the Westfjords reside in the northern part, which include Ísafjarðarbær, Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður and Súðavíkurhreppur, while 18% reside in the southern part,

7 which include Vesturbyggð and Tálknafjarðarhreppur, and only 8% in Strandir and Reykhólar, which include Árneshreppur, Kaldraneshreppur, Strandabyggð and Reykhólahreppur (Skúladóttir et al., 2020).

Figure 2. The nine municipalities in the Westfjords (Landmælingar Ísland, 2014).

The population count in these municipalities vary greatly, ranging from 43 people in Árneshreppur to 3809 people in Ísafjarðarbær (see table 1) (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c). The Westfjords have 40% of the total coastline in Iceland and the towns in the area are mainly located by the seaside (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). There is only one town in the Westfjords with a population of 1000 people or more, which is Ísafjarðarbær, with a population of 2703 people, and two towns with a population between 500 – 1000 people, Bolungarvík and Patreksfjörður, with a population of 931 and 675, respectively (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c).

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Table 1. Population in the municipalities in the Westfjords on January 1st, 2020 (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c).

Municipality Population Árneshreppur 43 Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður 955 Ísafjarðarbær 3809 Kaldraneshreppur 109 Reykhólahreppur 262 Súðavíkurhreppur 208 Strandabyggð 457 Tálknafjarðarhreppur 251 Vesturbyggð 1021 Total 7115

Iceland has two administrative levels, the State of Iceland and local governments, or the municipalities (Nilsson & Jokinen, 2020). The municipalities in Iceland trace back to the Commonwealth Period (930-1262) and their right of self-governance and autonomy over their own affairs are protected by Article 78 of the of Iceland (Sverrisson & Hannesson, n.d.). The municipalities in Iceland are required by law to provide certain services to their inhabitants, including but not limited to; running kindergartens, elementary schools, social services, music schools, sport clubs, street construction and fire protection (Samgöngu- og sveitarstjórnarráðuneytið, 2017). All municipalities in Iceland are required to provide these services, regardless of the population size of the municipality (Samgöngu- og sveitarstjórnarráðuneytið, 2017). In this thesis when the small size of the municipalities is mentioned, it is referencing the small population size, not the size of the geographical area. It has been suggested that many municipalities in Iceland (Þingskjal 437, 2019-2020) and other Nordic countries (Nilsson & Jokinen, 2020) are too small to bear this responsibility (Þingskjal 437, 2019-2020) and that larger municipalities are better equipped with providing the necessary service and public administration (Nilsson & Jokinen, 2020). Many municipalities in Iceland have, for example, collaborated on providing certain services, which have often led to the amalgamation of municipalities (Sverrisson & Hannesson, n.d.). However, some have expressed concern that the amalgamation of municipalities will create a greater distance between the citizens and the administrative units due to the larger geographical size of the municipalities (Nilsson 9

& Jokinen, 2020). The amalgamation of municipalities has been encouraged in all the Nordic countries in the last couple of decades, including Iceland (Nilsson & Jokinen, 2020). When the municipalities in Iceland were the most numerous they were 250 which by 2018 had reduced to 72 municipalities (Guðmundsson & Karlsson, 2019). During this time there was also amalgamation of municipalities in the Westfjords; in 1987 four municipalities amalgamated with Reykhólahreppur; in 1994 Vesturbyggð was created when four municipalities amalgamated; in 1995 two municipalities amalgamated with Súðavíkurhreppur; in 1996 Ísafjarðarbær was created when 6 municipalities amalgamated; and in 2006 Strandabyggð was created by the amalgamation of two municipalities (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020a). Up until now, the government of Iceland has encouraged the voluntary amalgamation of the municipalities, but that is about to change (Guðmundsson & Karlsson, 2019) because on the agenda of Alþingi’s action plan for 2019 – 2023 is the forced amalgamation of municipalities in Iceland. The agenda proposes that a minimum population requirement for municipalities will be set as following; by the local election in 2022 the minimum population of a municipality should be 250 people which is then set to increase to a minimum of 1000 people by the 2026 local election (Þingskjal 890, 2019-2020). Forced amalgamation of municipalities was for example done in in 2007, where the government decided that the municipalities should amalgamate but the implementation was delegated to the local governments, resulting in a significant reduction in municipalities; from 270 to 98 (Nilsson & Jokinen, 2020). If the forced amalgamation of municipalities in Iceland becomes a law, then it will impact at least six of the nine municipalities in the Westfjords which will be forced to amalgamate as there are only two municipalities that have over 1000 residents; Ísafjarðarbær and Vesturbyggð, although Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður comes quite close with 955 residents. The other six municipalities all have a population of under 500 people, and unitedly all these six municipalities only have a total population of 1330 people (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c). One suggested municipality amalgamation option for the Westfjords is that there will be only three municipalities in the Westfjords which correlate with the division of the Westfjords into three regions, northern part, southern part and Strandir and Reykhólar. Meaning that Vesturbyggð and Táknafjarðarhreppur would amalgamate, Ísafjarðarbær, Súðavíkurhreppur and Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður would

10 amalgamate and Reykhólahreppur, Kaldraneshreppur, Árneshreppur and Strandabyggð would amalgamate (Fjórðungsamband Vestfirðinga, 2004). The Quarterly Assembly of the Westfjords had an opinion poll conducted in 2004 on the residents of the Westfjords to explore their views on possible amalgamation of the municipalities. The results of the survey indicated that most inhabitants were supportive of the amalgamation of the municipalities. However, the larger municipalities in each region of the Westfjords were more supportive of the idea of amalgamation while the smaller municipalities were more likely to be opposed to the idea. For example, the residents of Tálknafjarðarhreppur, Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður, Súðavíkurhreppur and Kaldraneshreppur were strongly against amalgamation of the municipalities (Fjórðungsamband Vestfirðinga, 2004). The municipality of Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður has publicly announced their dissatisfaction with the forced amalgamation of the municipalities. Aa response they have an agenda on their action plan called “Bolungarvík 1000+” where they aim to reach 1000 inhabitants before the 2026 local election to avoid forced amalgamation (Guðlaugs-Drífudóttir, 2019, 14. ágúst). The municipalities in the Westfjords have many similar interests and concerns related to population decline, road conditions, occupation and environmental issues, to name a few (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). These common local affairs led to the establishment of the Quarterly Assembly of the Westfjords (Fjórðungssamband Vestfirðinga) in 1946. The Quarterly Assembly is an organized interest group that acts as an advocate for the Westfjords when issues concerning them are being discussed, whether it be in Parliament or government agencies, and moreover, provides a forum for the municipalities to discuss common issues and form action plans and policies to resolve said issues (Vestfjarðastofa, n.d.). The administration of the Quarterly Assembly is led by five people, each from different municipalities in the Westfjords (Vestfjarðastofa, n.d.).

2.1 Population decline One of the concerns shared by the municipalities is the reduced population that has been ongoing for many decades (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). On January 1st, 1998 a total of 8556 people lived in the Westfjords, but since then the population has steadily declined and today the remaining population is 7115 people, which accounts for a 16.9% decrease in population over this 22-year period (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c). Figure 3 shows the total 11 population in the Westfjords during the years 1998-2020. The reduced population count was evident in all nine municipalities, however, percentage wise, the smaller municipalities experienced a more significant population decline compared to the larger municipalities. For example, Árneshreppur had a total population of 72 people in 1998 but in 2020 the population count was 43 people, which accounts for approximately 40% population decline. As a comparison, the total population in Ísafjarðarbær was 4423 people in 1998 but had reduced to 3809 people in 2020, which accounts for around 14% population decline (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c).

Figure 3. Population Decline in the Westfjords from 1998 – 2020 (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c).

During that same time period, 1998 – 2020, the total population of Iceland had increased by approximately 30%, meaning that the percentage composition of the population in the Westfjords compared to the total population of Iceland has decreased from 3,1% in 1998 to 1,95% in 2020 (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). However, most of the population increase is caused by positive net migration where more individuals immigrated to Iceland, than emigrated from the country (Nilsson & Jokinen, 2020). This pattern of population increase is also evident in other Nordic countries, such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark (Nilsson & Jokinen, 2020). However, the Westfjords and the northwest of Iceland are the only regions in Iceland that experienced a population decline even though the birth rate was higher than the death rate (Nilsson & Jokinen, 2020). 12

There was a positive natural increase and a positive net migration in all other (Nilsson & Jokinen, 2020). The population decline can in part be explained by the number of emigrants from the Westfjords in the last two decades as more people have emigrated from the Westfjords than have immigrated to the area (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). There are various interconnected factors that contribute to the emigration, including limited availability of occupations, especially specialized occupation that requires a university degree, which in turn makes it hard for people to change their field of occupation or for new families to move to the area (Eydal et al., 2016). Moreover, lack of high schools and universities in the Westfjords, that offer a wide range of study lines, contributes to why the younger generations move to larger population nucleuses to study and then often don’t return to their hometowns due to lack of available specialized occupation (Eydal et al., 2016). According to a 2012 study by Capacent, the Westfjords have a below average proportion of university educated individuals, especially females (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). Statistics show that in the Nordic countries, younger adults (ages 20-29) are more attracted to living in urban areas than rural areas because there is greater access to universities and jobs that require a university degree in urban areas (Karlsdóttir et al., 2020). In a 2007 report from the Prime Ministry of Iceland, increasing educational opportunities in the Westfjords was considered a prerequisite to combat population decline and make the Westfjords an attractive option for young adults (Forsætisráðuneyti, 2007). Today there are more options for high school and university education in the Westfjords, including but not limited to, the University Centre of the Westfjords which offers two different master’s programs through distance learning (Háskólasetur Vestfjarða, n.d.) the Flateyri Folk High School (Lýðskólinn á Flateyri, n.d.), the University of Iceland Research Centre which is located in both Patreksfjörður and Bolungarvík (Háskóli Íslands, n.d.) and the Ísafjörður High School (Menntaskólinn á Ísafirði, n.d.). The results of a study conducted in the Westfjords in 2012 by the Icelandic Regional Development Institute (Byggðastofnun) showed that two thirds of the participants aged 20-24, and a third of the participants aged 25-34, planned to move from the Westfjords in the next 5 years (Karlsdóttir et al., 2012). The number of participants that planned to leave their hometown was similar in the Westfjords, southeast and northeast of Iceland.

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These three regions all had in common that most participants felt that employment opportunities for females were very limited (Karlsdóttir et al., 2012). In Nordic countries in general, women are more likely to emigrate from rural areas due to lack of desirable occupation available (Karlsdóttir et al., 2020). Moreover, 62% of the participants in the Westfjords felt that employment opportunities in general were either rather monotonous or very monotonous (Karlsdóttir et al., 2012). There are limited employment opportunities in the Westfjords for individuals that have a higher education as most of the new employment opportunities both do not require a university degree and are androcentric, such as fish farming and other occupations related to the seafood industry (Eydal et al., 2016). Job opportunities in this industry sector, therefore, do not solve the existing causes of emigration of young adults from the Westfjords (Eydal et al., 2016). Moreover, there are a greater number of males than females in most municipalities in the Westfjords (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). This difference has become more prominent in the last couple of years as in 2014 males accounted for 50.79% of the population while females accounted for 49.21% of the population, whereas in 2018 males and females were 52.79% and 47.93%, respectively. These changes in gender composition can, however, in part be explained by an increased number of immigrants that have moved to the Westfjords in the last couple of years, as the number of foreign nationals made up 10% of the total population of the Westfjords in 2013 (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a) but had increased to 16% of the total population in 2019 (Þjóðskrá Íslands, 2020). The number of foreign nationals in each region of Iceland is relatively high but the Westfjords have the second highest rate of foreign nationals after Suðurnes where 24% of the population are foreign nationals (Þjóðskrá Íslands, 2020). The lowest rate of foreign nationals in Iceland is in northeast Iceland where they make up 8,2% of the population and 8,5% of the population in northwest Iceland. Other regions have similar rates to the Westfjords; in the capital region foreign nationals account for 13% of the total population, 13% in the west of Iceland, 12% in the east coast and 14% on the south coast (Þjóðskrá Íslands, 2020). There is a higher percentage of male foreign nationals, than females, that move to Iceland which is likely caused by more availability of androcentric employee opportunities (Vinnumálastofnun, 2018). On the Westfjords official tourist website they state that there are a number of villages in the Westfjords which would no longer exist were it not for the

14 number of foreign nationals that had immigrated to the Westfjords (Visit Westfjords, n.d.-b). These factors have caused a distorted composition of the population pyramid in most of the municipalities in the Westfjords (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). The number of residents over the age of 50 has increased substantially over the last 20 years, while the number of younger people, both males and females, has decreased at the same time (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). Population ageing in rural communities is a trend that is seen all over the Nordic countries, where the proportion of older age groups is steadily increasing while the proportion of children and young adults is continually decreasing (Stjernberg, 2020). The population ageing is for example caused by higher life expectancy, lower birth rates and because the baby boom generation (born between 1940 and 1960) are now reaching retirement age (Stjernberg, 2020). Rural populations in the Nordic countries are experiencing higher population ageing than urban areas due to the emigration of younger adults (Stjernberg, 2020). The consequences of these changes in the population pyramid in the Westfjords is that they are no longer able to sustain a natural population increase (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). The birth rate in the Westfjords has dwindled substantially over the last three decades. There were 159 children born in the Westfjords in 1991, but that number had decreased to 70 children by 2017, whereas a slight increase is visible in 2018 and 2019 when the number of children born were 77 and 80, respectively (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020b). However, at the same time, the mortality rate has been relatively steady (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). The population decline results in lower tax revenues for the municipalities which in return not only limits the municipalities abilities to provide service for their residents but also limits investment potential which can cause a positive feedback loop resulting in continued population decline (Nefnd um samfélags- og atvinnuþróun á Vestfjörðum, 2016). Transportation is also considered an influential factor contributing to population decline in the Westfjords both in relation to the long driving distances between each region of the Westfjords along with poor driving conditions in the wintertime, which makes it hard to live in one area of the Westfjords and seek employment in another (Nefnd um samfélags- og atvinnuþróun á Vestfjörðum, 2016).

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2.2 Transportation As previously mentioned, the Westfjords are divided into three regions, the southern part, northern part and Strandir and Reykhólar, and this division is often accounted to the driving distance between each location (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). For instance, the driving distance between Ísafjörður, the largest town in the Westfjords and the heartland of the area, to Reykhólar is 240 km which is slightly more than the driving distance from Reykhólar to the capital region which is 228 km (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). The driving distance between Ísafjörður and other towns in the Westfjords are for example 173 km to Patreksfjörður, 162 km to Tálknafjörður and 236 km to Drangsnes (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). The Icelandic Regional Development Institute (Byggðastofnun) divides the Westfjords into five travel to work areas (vinnusóknarsvæði) due to the driving distances between them. The first includes Reykhólahreppur which reaches to Strandabyggð, the second is the southern region where Tálknafjarðarhreppur and Vesturbyggð are located, the third is the northern region where Ísafjarðarbær, Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður and Súðavíkurhreppur are located, the fourth is Kaldraneshreppur which also reaches Strandabyggð and the fifth is Árneshreppur which does not connect with other municipalities due to transportation (Karlsdóttir et al., 2012). Due to the driving distance between each of these five regions the residents of each area do not commonly seek employment out of their respective travel to work area (Skúladóttir et al., 2020).

The driving distances between the towns in the Westfjords are not the only obstacles the residents face regarding transportation. The Westfjords are very mountainous so the residents must drive through high mountain passes, which can be problematic over the winter period due to heavy snow which often render the roads impassable (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). Also, not all roads in the region are cleared of snow in the wintertime which limits the residents’ ability to travel between regions (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). For instance, the road over Dynjandisheiði, which is a gravel road with sharp turns that goes over a high mountain pass, is only kept open from spring until autumn, leaving the road that leads between Ísafjörður and Patreksfjörður impassable in the wintertime because they are not cleared of snow (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). In Karlsdóttir et al. (2012) report they spoke with a doctor that lives in the town Ísafjörður in Ísafjarðarbær municipality but works every other week in the town Patreksfjörður in Vesturbyggð municipality. To

16 travel between these two towns the doctor could drive the road over Dynjandisheiði in spring, summer and autumn which is 173 km, but during the winter time the road over Dynjandisheiði is not cleared of snow, meaning that the doctor had to take a long detour to drive between the two towns making his commute 452 km. The roads in Árneshreppur municipality are also not cleared of snow in the winter months (Vegagerðin, n.d.-b) so the only way for the residents to leave their municipality is by plane from the small airport Gjögur which is located in the municipality (Karlsdóttir et al., 2012). Furthermore, the roads in Árneshreppur are single laned gravel roads (Vegagerðin, n.d.-c). Other main roads in the Westfjords are kept open in the wintertime (Vegagerðin, n.d.-b). One can drive on pavement from Reykjavík to some of the municipalities in the Westfjords, including Ísafjarðarbær, Kaldraneshreppur, Strandabyggð, Súðavíkurhreppur, Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður and Reykhólahreppur but the road from the southern Westfjords which include Vesturbyggð and Tálknafjarðarhreppur are a combination of gravel roads and pavement (Vegagerðin, n.d.-c). Vesturbyggð is the only municipality in Iceland with a population of 1000 people or more that is not connected to Reykjavík with a paved road the whole way (Nefnd um samfélags- og atvinnuþróun á Vestfjörðum, 2016). The transportation system in the Westfjords has, however, improved quite a bit in the northern region as there are currently three mountain tunnels there; the tunnel under Breiðdals- and Botnsheiði which is the longest mountain tunnel in Iceland that connect Ísafjörður, Önundarfjörður and Súgandafjörður and was opened in 1996; Bolungarvíkurgöng tunnels which connects Bolungarvík with Ísafjörður and was opened in 2010 and the older Arnadalshamar tunnels which connects Ísafjörður with Súðavík and was opened in 1948 (Vegagerðin, n.d.-a). Most of the residents in the Westfjords travel by private cars (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). Public transportation in the Westfjords is very limited. There is public transportation in Ísafjarðarbær municipality that connects the smaller towns with Ísafjörður town, and in the summertime there are buses that travel from Ísafjörður to Hólmavík, where they can then connect to Strætó the Icelandic public bus network. There is also a public bus system that connects Vesturbyggð and Tálknafjarðarhreppur municipalities (Skúladóttir et al., 2019).

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In a population survey conducted in the Westfjords in 2013 the residents expressed their concerns with the road system. The results of the study showed that 58.6% of the participants in the northern Westfjords were either rather unhappy or very unhappy with the road system in the Westfjords and 41.3% of the participants in Reykhólir and Strandir expressed the same concerns about the road system. The highest rate of unhappiness with the road system was in the southern Westfjords where 80% of the participants were rather unhappy or very unhappy with the road system (Atvinnuþróunarfélag Vestfjarða, 2013). In fact, during a meeting for the Fragile Communities Program in Árneshreppur and Strandabyggð held in September 2010, the residents raised their concerns about the difficult road conditions, long driving distances and lack of job opportunities in their vicinity. They mentioned that it was often the better option to receive unemployment benefits from the government than tackle these obstacles (Karlsdóttir et al., 2012). Despite these difficulties, unemployment rate in the Westfjords measured at 1,7% in January 2019, which was lower than the country’s average unemployment rate at 3,0% (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). The low unemployment rate in the Westfjords compared to the rest of Iceland is mainly because individuals that lose their job are likely to emigrate from the Westfjords due to lack of available occupations (Eydal et al., 2016). These difficulties with transportation negatively affect living conditions in the Westfjords as it hinders the residents’ ability to seek employment, health care and other service in other regions of the Westfjords (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). Furthermore, the road conditions hinder cooperation between different regions and limits the ability of the town of Ísafjörður as the largest town in the Westfjords to be a service centre for the region (Karlsdóttir et al., 2012). To illustrate how bad the road conditions in the Westfjords are, it has been suggested that it’s easiest for the municipalities in the Westfjords to have meetings in Reykjavík because the roads to the capital are the most easily passable routes from all regions (Karlsdóttir et al., 2012).

2.3 Occupation The Westfjords is a very mountainous region, which coupled with the vast wilderness areas, does not provide many lowland areas suitable for farming. However, there are rich fishing grounds in the ocean surrounding the Westfjords which provide the optimal conditions for fish, whales and birds. Due to these conditions the people of the 18

Westfjords have throughout history been dependent on the ocean for survival (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). The fishing industry has shaped the image of the Westfjords as the region is known in Iceland for fisheries and all kinds of fish production and fish processing (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). Still today, the fishing industry and fish farming remains the largest creator of capital wealth in the region as 60% of the capital wealth from the Westfjords comes from the fishing industry (17% from fishing, 30% from fish processing and 13% from fish farming) (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). The fishing industry has, moreover, shaped the cultural landscape of the Westfjords; the towns in the area are located by the coastline where the harbour is the heartland of the towns, many museums in the Westfjords are centred around the fishing industry as well as the food culture (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a).

The problem with the fishing industry in Iceland is that the largest seafood companies have aggregated large parts of the total fishing quota which often leaves smaller fishing villages around the country, including in the Westfjords, with very limited fishing quota remaining in the villages (Smáradóttir et al., 2014). The small vessels that operate from the coastal villages in Iceland are mainly involved with harvesting the fish, while larger vessels often process the fish on board, which means that the small fishing vessels get a smaller share of the total value chain compared to larger and more technologically advanced fishing vessels (Viðarsson et al., 2018). The coastal fisheries in the Westfjords are, therefore, often not as profitable as other segments of the fishing industry (Viðarsson et al., 2018). The situation with coastal fisheries is Norway is very similar to Iceland where larger fishing vessels with greater fishing rights are profitable while the coastal fisheries who have limited fishing rights are struggling (Viðarsson et al., 2018). The government of Iceland has tried to support the struggling coastal fisheries, for example with regional quota, which is provided to communities that are highly dependent on the fishing industry but have experienced a significant reduction in fishing quota. However, the problem with the regional quota is that it is offered annually meaning that the companies are not guaranteed to receive the quota the following years making investment and planning ahead more difficult (Viðarsson et al., 2018). Fish farming is the fastest growing food production industry in the world (Smáradóttir et al., 2014). Fish farming has grown significantly in the West Nordic countries, such as

19 the Faroe Islands, Norway and Iceland, where the geographical location of the country provides them with straight access to the ocean (Smáradóttir et al., 2014). In Iceland, fish farming industries are mainly concentrated to the Westfjords and the Eastfjords where the narrow fjords provide the optimal conditions for offshore fish farming because the fjords are naturally protected from large ocean waves (Smáradóttir et al., 2014). In fact, in 2016, 34% of all employee income from fish farming in Iceland came from the Westfjords (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019c). There has also been a significant increase in job positions in the fish farming industry in the Westfjords as in 2008 there were 166 people working in fish farming which had increased to 457 individuals by 2018 (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019c). It is expected that fish farming will become one of the main pillars of the economy in the Westfjords in the coming years (Eydal et al., 2016). The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute of Iceland calculated the Westfjords’ carrying capacity for salmon fish farming as 82.500 tons, while the risk assessment for genetic mixing of farmed and wild salmon concluded that it would be acceptable to allow salmon fish farming up to 50.000 tons in the Westfjords (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019c). Which means that there is significant potential for increasing salmon fish farming in the Westfjords because in 2018 the total salmon fish farming industry in Iceland produced 10.000 tons (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019c). The total production of fish farmed salmon in Iceland is significantly smaller than in Norway, where the current production is around 1,3 million tons, while the Norwegian government aims to increase the production to a total of 5 million tons by 2050 (Bjørkan & Eilertsen, 2020). However, similarly to the Westfjords, the Norwegian government claims in their marine strategy that offshore fish farming can strengthen the local economy of coastal communities and increase their adaptability, although they do not specify how the fish farming industry is going to accomplish that (Bjørkan & Eilertsen, 2020). The fish farming industry has undergone significant changes over the years in Norway, as the policies regarding fish farming started with the goal of strengthening the rural areas by focusing on smaller locally owned and controlled companies. However, in the 1990s the Norwegian government gradually changed these policies because it proved not profitable enough to have small locally run units. The fish farming industry, therefore, evolved into large scale international industries. Despite the fish farming industry being very profitable and they are producing 25 times more than they did 35 years ago, the

20 number of job positions have remained the same (Bjørkan & Eilertsen, 2020). Even though the fish farming industry is expected to continue growing in the Westfjords, which might result in more available job positions, then the field is still mainly androcentric and requires unskilled workers which does not solve the emigration of young university educated adults, especially women, from the Westfjords (Eydal et al., 2016). Resulting in these job positions often being filled by foreign nationals (Eydal et al., 2016). However, there is a potential that other job opportunities will be derived from the fish farming industry which require university educated individuals in, for example, research and innovation in relation to the processing of marine materials (Smáradóttir et al., 2014). The municipalities have not set a collective policy on the fishing industry; however, all the municipalities have the fishing industry on their master zoning plan where the objective is to provide the space for further development in the field (Eydal et al., 2016). One of the objectives with the EarthCheck environmental certificate that the municipalities have been awarded with is to enable food companies, including the fishing industry, to market their products as being originated in an environmentally certified area (Eydal et al., 2016). The economic life in the Westfjords is mainly based on the utilization of natural resources from the ocean. Other marine related industries have been growing in the Westfjords, such as algae processing, calcareous algae processing and industries related to fish farming have also been growing in the Westfjords (Eydal et al., 2016). Some of the problem these industries are facing is inadequate access to electric power and poor road conditions (Eydal et al., 2016). For example, the growing fish farming industry in the Westfjords means that the fish needs to be transported to the capital region, but the poor road conditions have made that process more difficult (Eydal et al., 2016). Aside from the fishing industry other occupations fields in the Westfjords include, but are not limited to, harvesting down, sheep farming in limited number of places, mostly in Strandabyggð and Reykhólarhreppur municipalities, and various service industries (Vestfirðir, 2019). The tourism industry has also grown significantly in the last couple of years in the Westfjords, as well as the rest of Iceland (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). The growth of tourism in the Westfjords can for example be seen in the increase of overnight stays at hotels in the area, which increased from 129 thousand in 2012 to 192 thousand in 2018. Most of

21 these overnight hotel stays were during the summer months, as the tourism industry is mainly dormant in the Westfjords during the winter months (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). Even though the number of overnight stays at hotels have increased in the Westfjords, the increase has not been on par with the increase of which more than doubled between the years 2012 and 2018, increasing from 3.8 million overnight hotel stays in 2012 to 8.5 million overnight stays in 2018 (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). However, one must keep in mind that the most significant increase in tourism occurred in the capital region and the south coast of Iceland (Nefnd um samfélags- og atvinnuþróun á Vestfjörðum, 2016). In 2012 the Westfjords received around 3.4% of the tourists visiting the country but by 2018 that number had dwindled to 2.2% (Skúladóttir et al., 2020). There is a great potential for increasing tourism in the Westfjords which would create more jobs, although mostly unskilled jobs (Eydal et al., 2016). The tourism industry in the Westfjords is now mostly concentrated during the summer months, from June – August, mainly because of difficult road conditions in the wintertime which makes it hard to market the Westfjords as an all year-round tourist destination (Eydal et al., 2016). All the municipalities in the Westfjords included tourism on their master zoning plan for their region were their objective is to increase tourism in the area with the hope that it will lead to more job opportunities and economic growth (Eydal et al., 2016). The municipalities’ focus on tourism is mainly based on the unique landscape and untouched nature in the Westfjords, as well as its history and culture. The aim is to market and define the region as an environmentally friendly area, which is one of the reasons why they applied for the EarthCheck environmental certificate as a way to distinguish themselves from other regions in Iceland as a sustainable destination that is leading in environmental issues (Eydal et al., 2016). The municipalities in the Westfjords acknowledge the importance of environmental quality for the tourism industry and in the action plan for the Westfjords it is stated that tourists visit the Westfjords because they find the untouched nature and landscape the most attractive features of the area (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). Unitedly, the municipalities in the Westfjords run the Visit Westfjords website which goal is to market the Westfjords as a tourist destination. One of their goals is to increase tourism related to the seafood industry (Eydal et al., 2016) which has proved very beneficial for Suðureyri, a small fishing village in the Westfjords,

22 which has become one of Westfjords most popular attraction due to its image as a small coastal fishing village where tourists can visit the fish factory, eat fresh catch from the ocean and go on fishing tours (Viðarsson et al., 2018). The economic life in the Westfjords is quite monotonous and androcentric, and there are few job opportunities for university educated individuals (Eydal et al., 2016) which can be considered the greatest weakness of the economy in the Westfjords which significantly contributes to population decline as younger adults, especially women, seek job opportunities outside of the Westfjords (Viðarsson et al., 2018).

2.4 EarthCheck environmental certificate The previous chapters provide information about the municipalities in the Westfjords and the various issues they have been dealing with in the recent years. The next two chapters will bring the discussion towards the EarthCheck environmental certificate with which the municipalities in the Westfjords have been awarded. The EarthCheck Sustainable Destination Program was founded in 1987 and is today the world leading certification program for sustainability and tourism, and the only environmental organization that gives environmental certificates to communities (EarthCheck, n.d.-b). The municipalities decision to start the application process for the EarthCheck certificate was based on their belief that the EarthCheck environmental certificate would not only improve environmental practices in the Westfjords but that it would also strengthen the local economy. They believed that the EarthCheck certificate would enable industries in the Westfjords to market their products as being produced in an environmentally certified region as well as market the Westfjords as a sustainable tourism destination (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). Strengthening the local economy is an important factor in combating the population decline the Westfjords are currently experiencing (Eydal et al., 2016). Before we go into deeper discussion about the reasoning behind the municipalities’ decision to apply for the EarthCheck certificate and how the certificate has been applied in the Westfjords, the EarthCheck environmental certificate will be introduced.

EarthCheck uses a science-based approach to evaluate companies or communities with the goal of improving their environmental performance (EarthCheck, n.d.-a). The EarthCheck certificates are built on the Agenda 21 principles for Sustainable 23

Development (EarthCheck, 2018) which were ratified by 178 governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 (United Nations, n.d.). In the report by the UNCED, sustainable development was defined as the “ability to make development sustainable – to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs“ (Kates et al., 2005). Sustainable development is divided into three pillars; economic development, social development and environmental protection (Kates et al., 2005). The problem with these pillars is that it suggests a separation between each category, which often gives priority to one category over the others. Economy has often been given the priority, while the environment and the social category has been viewed as something that can be exploited (Giddings et al., 2002). The main concern of governments are often economic growth, and consequently less consideration has been given to the other two pillars (Giddings et al., 2002). EarthCheck’s aim is to take a holistic approach towards sustainable development to ensure that the participants of the program enhance their environmental and social performance by minimizing the ecological footprint of their activities and move towards sustainability (EarthCheck, n.d.- a). EarthCheck is also recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and fulfils the Mohonk Agreement, which is a framework for sustainable tourism certifications (EarthCheck, 2018). EarthCheck company standards are based on six main pillars that the company or community that is awarded with the EarthCheck certificate should follow; 1) community management in relation to the certification system, 2) applicable laws and regulations are followed, 3) environmental and social sustainability policy, 4) a five year action plan that is reviewed every year, 5) monitor annual performance on the benchmarking indicators and 6) public participation of all groups of the community so they have a chance to influence policy making (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). The first step towards receiving an EarthCheck certificate is to apply for the EarthCheck program and pay the annual fee (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b) of 10.000 AUS (excluding government taxes) for a community with a population of 150.000 people or less (EarthCheck, 2020) which translates to approximately 1,01 million Icelandic króna, according to the exchange rate on September 5th, 2020 (XE, 2020). Once the annual fee

24 has been paid the applicant starts preparing the community for the process ahead, by strategy planning, forming committees, appointing advisors and involving stakeholders (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). The second step is benchmarking as one of the EarthCheck slogans states: “you can’t manage what you don’t measure (EarthCheck, n.d.-a). The EarthCheck benchmarking indicators focus on key social and environmental performance areas; including greenhouse gas emission, energy efficiency, social and cultural values, fresh water management, land use planning, air quality, waste management, the management of harmful substances and ecosystem conservation (EarthCheck, 2018). EarthCheck quantitatively evaluates the applicant’s performance of the key benchmarking indicators and compares the results with both the sector and regional Baseline and Best Practice level (EarthCheck, n.d.-a). Benchmarking is extensively used as a management tool in various industries for improvement and development. For instance, in 2008, 65% of the Fortune 1000 companies uses benchmarking to gain a competitive edge (Anand & Kodali, 2008). Benchmarking has proved successful because it allows companies and/or communities to learn about best practices in their respective field and improve their performance accordingly (Anand & Kodali, 2008). Analogously, the EarthCheck benchmarking allows the applicant to evaluate their performance and continuously work on improving their environmental and social performance (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). After the benchmarking evaluation is completed, the applicant is awarded with a bronze benchmarking certification (EarthCheck, 2019). The third step is certification, where EarthCheck compares the benchmarking results with the Earth Check Company Standards, as well as the action plan made by the community or company in question, which is then reviewed and accepted by an independent external auditor to ensure the integrity of the audit (EarthCheck, n.d.-a). If the applicant passes the audit, they are awarded with a silver certification which is renewed every 12 months. As the years pass and the company or community undergoes inspections and shows continuous improvements, their certification status improves. Thus, companies or communities that have participated for 1-4 years receive a silver certification, 5-9 years participation results in a gold certificate, 10-14 years participation results in a platinum certification and those that have participated for 15+ years receive

25 a master certification (EarthCheck, 2019). There are currently hundreds of companies and communities in over 70 countries that are EarthCheck certified (EarthCheck, 2018). Earth Check certified companies or communities in Iceland include, but are not limited to; the municipalities in Snæfellsnes Peninsula which in 2005 was the first community in to receive an Earth Check certificate and as of 2018 holds a platinum certificate (Nesvottun, n.d.) and Elding whale watching company which received a silver certification in 2008 and now holds a platinum certification as well (Elding, n.d.).

2.5 EarthCheck and the Westfjords At the legislative body of the Quarterly Assembly of the Westfjords (Fjórðungsþing Vestfirðinga) in 2006 the municipalities in the Westfjords decided to keep the Westfjords free of large-scale industries. They decided to attain an environmental certification for the region to create a knowledge based society with a focus on sustainable development (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). In November 2012, the municipalities in the Westfjords were set to reach their goal of unitedly focusing on environmental affairs by applying for the EarthCheck environmental certification program (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). EarthCheck is the only environmental organization that gives environmental certificates to communities (EarthCheck, n.d.-a) which is why the EarthCheck certificate was chosen for the municipalities in the Westfjords (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). As previously mentioned in this thesis, the municipalities in the Westfjords have been dealing with various issues that have contributed to population decline in the region, and the EarthCheck certificate is one way for the municipalities to try to strengthen the communities in the Westfjords by marketing them as an environmentally certified area (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020).

After the benchmarking for the Westfjords was finalized, the Westfjords received the bronze benchmarking certification for the years 2013-2014 (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). The municipalities are required to monitor their resource use and waste disposal, which is then reported to EarthCheck. During the yearly review of the EarthCheck certificate by the independent external auditor, EarthCheck evaluates the performance of the municipalities on the key benchmarking indicators. The performance of the municipalities is then calculated and graded and if 50% of the municipalities pass the minimum performance requirement then the municipalities in the Westfjords receive the EarthCheck certificate for the following year (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). In 2016 the 26

Westfjords received a silver certification after undergoing the annual onsite certification assessment (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). The Westfjords Nature Research Centre is now responsible for the work needed to apply for, and to maintain the EarthCheck environmental certificate. The Westfjords Nature Research Centre is both a research and service institute that focuses on natural sciences in the Westfjords. It is run by the municipalities in the Westfjords with support from the state of Iceland (Náttúrustofa Vestfjarða, n.d.). By participating in the EarthCheck program, the municipalities in the Westfjords are declaring that they are committed towards putting the environment first in all decision- making to ensure sustainable use of resources and preservation of the natural environment, history and relics (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). The municipalities work coherently towards reaching the goals of the action plan, as well as separately on local affairs concerning each municipality such as waste disposal and the purchasing of goods (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). The Westfjords are required to form an action plan for reaching sustainable development which is updated annually and ratified by all nine municipalities (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). The most recent update of the action plan was dated in May of 2020 and is valid for the years 2020 – 2025. The projects included on the action plans are varied and include for example; collecting organic material in all municipalities for composting; putting up signs so people know that they are in an EarthCheck certified region; research options for reclaiming wetland areas; beach clean ups; exploring the influence shopping in homestead has on the local economy; promotional work about EarthCheck, and many more (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). The main reasons why the municipalities in the Westfjords wanted to receive an environmental certificate from EarthCheck are the following:

1. To improve the performance of municipalities on the benchmarking indicators that EarthCheck has defined.

2. That each municipality register and submit information about resource use, which increases transparency and accountability.

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3. Environmental management and policy making related to the EarthCheck certificate is clear and that those working at the municipalities offices are involved.

4. That the municipalities can show that they are working towards sustainable development.

5. To show that the municipalities are working in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

6. To increase visibility of what the municipalities are doing on environmental issues with the goal of increasing public participation, of both residents and companies, with environmental projects.

7. That environmental projects that the municipalities decide to undertake are based on what environmental issues the residents want to emphasize, regardless of the requirements of the EarthCheck certificate (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020).

Furthermore, the municipalities believe that the EarthCheck environmental certificate would have a positive effect on the marketing of any product produced in the Westfjords (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020) by creating a solid foundation based on sustainability which could, for example, be beneficial for the fishing industry (Eydal et al., 2016). It’s interesting however, to consider that the key performance areas that EarthCheck focuses on does not include sustainable oceans (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020) but as mentioned in the occupation chapter, 60% of capital wealth created in the Westfjords comes from the fishing industry (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019a). The municipalities also hope that the EarthCheck certificate could attract tourists to the region to further the tourism business (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). Moreover, the idea was that an environmental certificate could increase partnership between the municipalities and its residents (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). One of the limitations to the EarthCheck certificate is that it only requires the municipalities themselves, and the institutions that are under their control, to adhere to the EarthCheck company standards, benchmarking guidelines and the action plan. Meanwhile, companies located in the Westfjords and the inhabitants of the area can 28 choose whether to follow suite and focus on improving their social and environmental performance, or they can continue with business as normal (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). EarthCheck requires the municipalities in the Westfjords to inform its residents of the EarthCheck certificate and what it means for the Westfjords, but the residents and companies are in no way obligated to participate in the project (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). The EarthCheck certificate therefore only sets an example for companies and the public to encourage them to modify their own behaviour and put more focus on sustainable development, as well as educate them about the importance of quality environment both for the economy and society (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). Companies however, play an important role in environmental protection because the economy and the environment are interdependent (Common & Stagl, 2005). The economy depends on the environmental resources available, and the environment is affected by the economy, and consequently the changes we cause in the environment then again affect our economy (Common & Stagl, 2005). Since the economy depends on the environmental resources available and consequently often cause environmental degradation, companies play an important part in the process of achieving sustainable development (Lozano, 2015). It is therefore instrumental that the private sector commits to and incorporates sustainable development into their business strategies (Lozano, 2015). One way to get companies more involved with environmental issues is to use public participation (Rowe & Frewer, 2000) which as previously mentioned, the municipalities in the Westfjords hoped that the EarthCheck certificate would lead to increased public participation with environmental projects (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). Public participation can be in various forms, ranging from educating the public about the importance of environmental protection, to gaining information about the public’s view and interests, and to higher level involvement where the public is able to participate in the decision-making process and help shape environmental policies (Rowe & Frewer, 2000). The public can refer to for example; individuals, companies and non-governmental organizations (Ewing, 2003). Public participation is an important tool to assist and guide governments and other decision- makers with forming environmental policies (Richardson & Razzaque, 2006) because it enables competing interest groups to consult, have their thoughts and concerns heard, and influence the decision-making process (Richardson & Razzaque, 2006). Public

29 involvement in policy decision making can positively affect the process of forming the policy, but also plays an important role in the viability and successful implementation of further policies (Ewing, 2003). Due to the benefits of public participation for effective decision- and policymaking then it might be a useful tool for the municipalities in the Westfjords to facilitate increased participation of companies in the region so they can unitedly focus on environmental issues, as recommended by EarthCheck (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020).

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3 Methodology A qualitative research method was used for this study where the aim is not to gather statistical data, rather it uses non-numerical data by conducting for example, participants observation or interviews. This research method helps the researcher gain a deeper understanding of the meaning the participants attach to the topic at hand and how they interpret their experience, thus, allowing the participants to express their views on their own terms (Taylor et al., 2016). The limitation of qualitative research methods is that the results of the study cannot be used to generalize about a wider population, which is also not the aim of this research project (Ochieng, 2009). Furthermore, the results of the study can be influenced by the researcher’s experiences and perspectives (Noble & Smith, 2015), for instance, it can influence what information is considered meaningful, thus shaping the result of the study (Berger, 2015). However, the researchers aim to be neutral, meaning that the results of the study do not reflect the researcher’s perspective, bias or background (Noble & Smith, 2015). The data for this research was gathered in the Westfjords in Iceland. The interviews conducted for this thesis will also be used by the Westfjords Nature Research Centre which is both a research and service institute that focuses on natural sciences in the Westfjords. It is run by the municipalities in the Westfjords with support from the state of Iceland. The Westfjords Nature Research Centre is responsible for the work needed to maintain the EarthCheck environmental certification that the municipalities in the Westfjords have been awarded with (Náttúrustofa Vestfjarða, 2019). The EarthCheck certificate is awarded to the municipalities in the Westfjords, not the companies, which means that the companies in the region are not required to put the environment in the decision-making process. The Westfjords Nature Research Centre’s objective is therefore to explore how companies in the Westfjords view the EarthCheck environmental certificate and how companies in the region can be encouraged to put more focus on environmental issues. This master’s thesis is separate from the report that the Westfjords Nature Research Centre will receive at the end of the project. Even though they have specific plans for using the results of the interviews, they did not influence the outcome of the study. The Westfjords Nature Research Centre only specified that they wanted to know more about the companies’ views and opinions on environmental issues, but they

31 did not in any way specify what they hoped the results would look like. I constructed the questionnaire used in the interviews and selected the companies to be interviewed. I received consultation from María Hildur Maack from the Westfjords Nature Research Centre, but the final layout of the questionnaire and the companies selected were up to me. The results presented here in this master’s thesis are not based on the Westfjords Nature Research Centre vested interest in the topic or hopeful results, it only reflects an academic analysis of the interviews where coding was used to identify themes. I received a full grant for a three-month period (June, July and August 2020) from the Student Innovation Fund (Nýsköpunarsjóður Námsmanna). The Student Innovation Fund does not have any vested interest in this study nor do they direct the study in any way. The grant I received is not dependent on any specific results. This thesis is based on sixteen interviews that were conducted in the Westfjords in the summer of 2020. Two interviews were conducted in six municipalities; Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður, Ísafjarðarbær, Kaldraneshreppur, Reykhólahreppur, Súðavíkurhreppur, Strandabyggð and Vesturbyggð, while only one interview was conducted in Árneshreppur and Tálknafjarðarhreppur. Since the focus of this study is on private companies, not the public, the interviews were conducted on company’s officials that worked at private companies that operate in the Westfjords. However, one of the participants is a former manager of a private company. The companies chosen for the interviews are a mix of some of the main fields of occupations in the Westfjords and they include companies engaged in the seafood industry, fish farming and tourism, among other fields that can’t be specified in order to keep anonymity of the participants and companies. The companies were chosen by looking up a company list in each municipality and after looking at the website of the companies. The selection was not entirely random because I was looking for companies that would represent the main occupation fields in the Westfjords, thus I mainly contacted companies that use marine products, tourism companies, fish farming companies among other fields that will not be specified because of the aforementioned reason. The companies were contacted by email where the research project and its goals were introduced, and then asked if a company official from their company would be interested and willing to participate in the project. The participants were also asked if

32 they approved of the interview being taped for the sole reason of transcribing it and the recording would then be deleted thereupon. To ensure confidentiality all sixteen participants have been given pseudonyms in the transcribed interviews, memos and this master’s thesis. The names of the companies the participants work at are not mentioned in this master’s thesis, although in some cases the participants occupation field is mentioned, such as fish industry, tourism industry, etc. The name of the municipality the participants live or work in are also not mentioned in this thesis. However, one potential challenge is that each municipality in the Westfjords has limited number of companies so even though the participants’ name will not be revealed in the transcribed interviews or this master’s thesis, then highly motivated readers might possibly be able to trace the interview back to the participants. An ethical approval however, is not needed for these interviews because according to law 90/2018 on Data Protection and the Processing of Personal data, an ethical approval is needed when personally identifiable information is revealed (Þingskjal 1785, 2019), which will not be the case in this study. This study used semi-structured interviews which involves open ended questions but follows an interview guide that includes relevant questions for the research topic (Bernard, 2006). The semi-structured interview allows the participants to answer open ended questions and provide more in-depth answers. The interviewer then probes to encourage the participants to provide more information on relevant topics. The probing can for example be by asking follow-up questions, asking the participant to tell you more about their answers, making affirmative comments or staying silent to encourage the participant to keep discussing the topic (Bernard, 2006). The interview guide allows the interviewer to guide the conversation towards the research topic to make sure the interview stays on topic while at the same time giving the participant the chance to provide information that he/she thinks is relevant and important to the topic (Bernard, 2006). The interviewer, therefore, defines the focus of the interview, but the participant is given the chance to shape the content of the interview (Bernard, 2006). It’s important to stay on course with the interview guide to make sure that the information gathered with the semi-structured interviews provide comparable qualitative data (Bernard, 2006). In accordance with the research questions for this study, as stated in the introduction chapter, the interview questions were posed around the following themes:

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1. The participants’ perception of environmental issues / environmental protection. 2. What an environmental policy does for a company. 3. The participants’ position towards the EarthCheck environmental certificate 4. How the participants believe the municipalities can improve on environmental issues The full questionnaire can be found in appendix 1. Each interview was recorded and then transcribed fully. Each interview was then coded where recurring words or phrases were documented (Charmaz, 2014) based on the themes of the study and questionnaire. Coding the interviews was the first step towards analysing and explaining the data and it enables the interviewer to better understand the participants’ viewpoints (Charmaz, 2014). Of the 16 interviews conducted for this study, one was in English and the rest in Icelandic. The interviews were then transcribed and coded in the language they were taken in, whereas the data presented from the interviews conducted in Icelandic has been translated to English by the researcher. Language enables us to express meaning and communicate our feelings and ideas, but at the same time language affects how the meaning we put into our words is understood (van Nes et al., 2010). For example, different languages have different metaphors and narratives which can prove problematic to translate fully to other languages (van Nes et al., 2010). Qualitative research where the interviewer and the participants speak the same language, as is the case of this study, and the data is then translated and presented in English, is considered valid if the translation of the languages and the meaning it holds is as similar as possible (van Nes et al., 2010). This master’s thesis is 30 ECTS which is why the sample size is not larger, but the goal of this research project is not to generalize about the views and opinions of all companies in Iceland. The goal of this research is only to explore the views of the participating companies in the Westfjords. Further research into this topic in other regions of Iceland would be interesting to gain more information on how companies view environmental issues and how they can enhance cooperation with their municipality to put more emphasis on environmental issues.

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4 Results The literature review presented earlier in the thesis provides the reader with basic understanding about the municipalities in the Westfjords and the issues they are currently dealing with regarding population decline, occupation and transportation, as well as a review of the EarthCheck environmental certificate and how that has been applied in the Westfjords. The results of the study reveal identifiable themes that were recurring throughout most of the interviews. The first theme is the lack of information about the EarthCheck certificate that the Westfjords have been awarded with as most of the participants had zero or very limited knowledge about EarthCheck. The second theme is the small size of the municipalities in the Westfjords and how the local issues they are dealing with could affect how the municipalities have been handling environmental issues. The third theme is public participation as most companies wanted increased cooperation with the municipalities regarding environmental issues. The fourth theme is the value of an environmental policy or a certificate for a company as most of the companies recognized that it was economically beneficial for their company to focus on environmental affairs.

4.1 Lack of information on the EarthCheck environmental certificate The representatives from the companies interviewed did not have much knowledge about the EarthCheck environmental certification. Most participants did not know that the municipalities in the Westfjords had an EarthCheck certificate, and moreover, most participants had never even heard EarthCheck mentioned by name and did know what the certificate entailed. The few participants that knew that the municipalities in the Westfjords had an EarthCheck certificate were either in environmental committees in their municipality, had sought information about EarthCheck themselves or had some connection to the municipality office or the Westfjords Nature Research Centre. Without exception, when asked if their respective municipality had informed or briefed them about the EarthCheck certificate, participants all answered no. They also mentioned that they had not been aware of any discussion about EarthCheck in their community. In the Westfjords action plan for the years 2020-2025 it says that the EarthCheck environmental certificate is something that all the residents of the Westfjords should know about and

35 participate with (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020) but based on this study that goal has not yet been accomplished.

This lack of knowledge of EarthCheck by the companies interviewed for this study is surprising because even though the EarthCheck certificate was only awarded to the municipalities themselves, not the companies operating within each municipality, then the EarthCheck company standards include that all groups in the community should be encouraged to participate and influence environmental policy making (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). A community is much more than just the . Merriam Webster defines community as “a unified body of individuals” (Merriam Webster, n.d.) which might mean that when a community is awarded with an EarthCheck certificate they are awarding it to all the individuals living within a community. It’s therefore surprising that the municipalities in the Westfjords can have an EarthCheck certificate without the individuals living in that community knowing about it. George, a participant of the study that works in the marine industry, said that if you were to ask the people in the Westfjords about the EarthCheck certificate, with the exception of the people working for the municipality offices, you would probably not receive any answers, because people don’t know anything about this certificate (Oral source, August 4th, 2020). When driving to the Westfjords there are no signs that indicate that you are now in an EarthCheck certified region. The lack of signs is surprising because when applying for the EarthCheck certification the Quarterly Assembly of the Westfjords hoped that the EarthCheck certificate could help attract tourists to the region. However, putting up EarthCheck signs is on the current action plan for the municipalities (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). When looking at the websites of some of the main tour operators in the Westfjords, they don’t have the EarthCheck logo on their website. Visit Westfjords, which is the “official travel guide to the Westfjords of Iceland” has the EarthCheck logo on their website and when you click the logo you can read basic information about the certificate such as that the municipalities are committed to putting the environment first in all decision makings, but it does not provide any information on what the municipalities are doing towards environmental protection (Visit Westfjords, n.d.-a). One of the participants of this study, Chloe, who is a former manager of a private company but now currently works at one of the municipality offices in the Westfjords,

36 informed me that the municipality was not required to inform their residents about the EarthCheck certificate and that they did not receive any accessible information from EarthCheck or the Westfjords Nature Research Centre that could be easily shared with the community (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Chloe found it strange that EarthCheck is making small municipality offices count their trash, pollution and the products used because their contribution to pollution and environmental degradation are so small compared to the pollution from companies that operate within the municipalities (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). She continues by arguing that the companies that have the greatest environmental impact in the region can be environmentally irresponsible but are still able to use the EarthCheck certificate to market their product (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). She believed that it could have a much bigger effect if the municipalities would influence the companies in the Westfjords to do their best to minimize harmful practices that pollute the environment (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Chloe feels like the EarthCheck certificate is not a real environmental certificate as it’s more ostentatious and she believed that this certificate is too superficial to convince real “children of nature” that they were focusing on environmental issues (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Noah observed his municipality had the EarthCheck certificate as their logo on their website and stationery but had no further knowledge about it. He believed however, that the EarthCheck certificate was not for the residents but for some externalities because the residents had not received any information about the certificate. He further mentioned that environmental certificates, such as the EarthCheck certificate, do not really matter to him as he is more concerned with what his community is actually doing on environmental matters, not just some logo that the municipalities can display without putting much effort into environmental issues (Oral source, July 10th, 2020). George was one of the participants that had no knowledge about the EarthCheck certificate, and he mentioned that when you drive through Ísafarðardjúp and other places in the Westfjords you will see things that will make you question how the Westfjords can really have an environmental certificate (Oral source, August 4th, 2020). George was not the only participant questioning the validity of the EarthCheck certificate. Jonathan pointed out that he has no faith in the EarthCheck certificate because he has seen the way the fishing industry in Stykkishólmur overfished scallops along with other marine

37 resources. This is despite the fact that the municipalities in Snæfellsnes Peninsula were awarded with an EarthCheck certificate (Oral source, July 1st, 2020) in 2008, becoming the first community in Europe to receive such a certificate (Nesvottun, n.d.). George did not believe that the EarthCheck certificate would prove useful in preserving the natural environment in the Westfjords (Oral source, July 1st, 2020). Owen, who works in the tourism industry, further noted that he believed that some economic activity in the Westfjords was not compatible with a region having an environmental certification. He could not believe that for example Hvalárvirkjun hydropower plant and fish farming were compatible with an environmentally certified region (Oral source, July 3rd, 2020). Owen further expressed his frustration with how his municipality was handling environmental affairs in relation to this hydropower plant:

Owen: When the Hvalárvirkjun hydropower plant was most heavily discussed in 2017/18, a man contacted the municipality and offered to conduct a free analysis of the pros and cons of constructing the hydropower plant versus establishing a national park in that same area. Analysis like this usually cost a couple of millions ISK. But the municipality decided not to accept this offer.

Interviewer: What reasoning did they give for refusing that offer?

Owen: No reasoning. They just said no. I think it would have been very sensible to have two options to choose from. (Oral source, July 3rd, 2020).

The municipalities in the Westfjords applied for the EarthCheck certificate in 2012 and subsequently received the silver certificate in 2016. By being awarded an EarthCheck environmental certificate the municipality has thereby declared to be committed towards putting the environment first in all decision making, so it’s surprising to hear that the municipality declined a free offer to evaluate the pros and cons of having a hydropower plant versus a national park in the area so they could make an evidence based decision making. These measures taken by the municipality has made Owen question the validity of the EarthCheck certificate and he further mentioned that he has not witnessed the municipality putting any extra effort into environmental protection since receiving the EarthCheck certificate (Oral source, July 3rd, 2020). Elizabeth works in the tourism industry and had heard about the EarthCheck certificate before, but did not however, perceive that her municipality was putting emphasis on environmental issues. As an example, she mentioned that the environmental representative for her municipality had

38 recently been let go because the municipality did not think there was enough work to be done on environmental issues to keep a person employed. She felt that in general her municipality was not very motivated in putting work into environmental issues and felt that the municipalities in the Westfjords often considered environmental protection to be the arch enemy of development in the area (Oral source, July 14th, 2020). Steven, a participant that knew that the Westfjords had an EarthCheck environmental certificate and felt that the municipalities were not putting enough effort into fulfilling the requirements of the certificate. Steven compared the EarthCheck certificate to an environmental certificate belonging to his company. He says that environmental policies are an obligation and that a company that holds an environmental certificate needs to be diligent in keeping up with the requirements of the certificate because if they lose interest or focus, they will not be bothered to keep it up to date. He believes that the municipalities in the Westfjords are not attending to the EarthCheck certificate (Oral source, July 2nd, 2020). Elizabeth also believes that environmental certificates can strengthen what a company is doing on environmental issues, but also demonstrate company accomplishments (Oral source, July 14th, 2020). Marcus further discussed the obligation of environmental certificates and he feels that when the municipalities, or companies, have an environmental certificate they are declaring that they are dedicated towards ensuring sustainable use of the natural environment (Oral source, July 10th, 2020). Steven expressed that having an environmental certificate is a positive obligation that the municipalities should embrace (Oral source, July 2nd, 2020).

Steven: But obligations can be good, and the environmental certificate that we got around 20 years ago was very healthy for our company. We needed some kind of standard working methods, data storage, traceability and all that, so I think it was a very good step we took. I think the same thing can happen with EarthCheck. And the municipalities should then influence companies and families. But they haven’t influenced us. But perhaps we are not influencing the municipality either. (Oral source, July 2nd, 2020).

Steven expressed that the municipalities should influence companies to do better in environmental matters, but all the participants of this study said that their municipality had never contacted them to inform them about EarthCheck certificate or tried to get their company involved (Oral source, July 2nd, 2020). Jessica works in the tourism industry and she had never heard about the EarthCheck certificate before, however, she hoped 39 that the environmental certificate would influence her business operation to make it more environmentally friendly, and that they could use the certificate to create a more positive image for the company (Oral source, July 7th, 2020). Lucas had never heard about the EarthCheck certificate before, but he mentioned that if the certificate was properly introduced to the companies in the Westfjords then it could be beneficial for marketing their products (Oral source, July 13th, 2020). John, who works in the fishing industry, had not heard about the EarthCheck certificate before either, but he also believed that if the companies had information about the EarthCheck certificates then it could make it easier to sell products from the Westfjords (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Carl, who works in the seafood industry, had not heard about the EarthCheck certificate before and he felt that his municipality was not proactive in environmental issues and in his experience it was the companies in the municipality that were pressuring the municipality to do better in environmental issues, rather than the other way around. In fact, Carl felt that his municipality was very passive when it came to environmental issues (Oral source, July 14th, 2020). Noah wants the municipalities to be more proactive when it comes to environmental issues, but he doubts that the EarthCheck certificate is what will motivate the municipalities to be more proactive because he has not witnessed more emphasis being put on environmental issues. Noah mentioned energy exchange as one issue that the municipalities should be more proactive about. He stated that the energy exchange in Iceland is inevitable because the government has decided that it will happen but the master plan for Ísafjörður town does not include any information about the energy exchange and the zoning plan for the town does not mark any specific location by the harbour as substation for electricity and methane where it will be needed in the future when the boats might be run on methane and the trucks that transport the goods to and from the region can charge their engine. To further illustrate the point that the energy exchange is about to happen, he mentioned that there is no longer a gas station in Súðavík town because the oil tank that was there is run down and outdated. The oil company is not willing to replace it because in a few years’ time there will not be a need for it because in 2030 there will be a ban on importing gasoline cars. As Noah says: “energy affairs are environmental affairs” (Oral source, July 10th, 2020).

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Andrew, who is also in the seafood industry, said that he had never heard his municipality discuss environmental issues or EarthCheck. However, he felt that the local government was taking good care of the community and that the companies in the municipality were taking good care of the environment. Therefore, he concluded that it was unnecessary to put extra funds into environmental issues because in his experience the environment was already being taken care of (Oral source, July 15th, 2020). Noah also mentioned that people in general just trust their municipality for environmental issues, they vote every four years and then expect them to take care of it (Oral source, July 10th, 2020). If the municipality is not influencing the companies and the residents of the Westfjords to become more environmentally friendly or using the EarthCheck certificate to market their products, then the EarthCheck environmental certificate will not have the effect that the municipalities expected it to have when applying for the certificate (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). The municipalities also hoped that the EarthCheck certificate would positively influence the marketing of the Westfjords as a sustainable tourist destination (Vestfjarðastofa, 2020). However, Elizabeth, Owen, Jessica and Sigrid all work in the tourism industry and none of them had heard any tourists mention that EarthCheck certificate or ask any questions about it (Oral source, July 14th, 2020; Oral source, July 3rd, 2020; Oral source, July 7th, 2020; Oral source, July 9th, 2020).

4.2 Small size of the municipalities Based on these interviews, the EarthCheck environmental certificate has not been properly introduced to the companies in the Westfjords, meaning that the municipalities in the Westfjords are not taking full advantage of the environmental certificate to advance their community and raise environmental awareness in the Westfjords. A couple of the participants who believed that the municipalities in the Westfjords were not putting much emphasis on environmental issues said that the reason behind it could be that the municipalities are dealing with different issues than the capital region. For example, some of the biggest issues that the Westfjords have been dealing with in the last couple of decades is related to reduction in population, poor road conditions, lack of job security and inadequate access to electricity. Chloe argued that environmental protection was more the agenda of the capital region than the countryside because they had the “luxury” of focusing on environmental issues because they were not dealing with 41 the same issues. Chloe compared the relationship between the countryside and the capital region to bees; where the countryside are the working bees who are bringing the honey to the beehive or the capital region. The beehive would not exist without the working bees, but she felt there was a lack of understanding about the struggles the working bees were dealing with and the lack of financial resources which made it harder for them to put more focus on environmental issues (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Similarly, George argued that the municipalities in the Westfjords might not be putting much emphasis on environmental protection because they have invested most of their time and resources into combating the population decline (Oral source, August 3rd, 2020).

George: But what I was going to say to defend the municipalities in the Westfjords [for their lack of action on environmental issues] is that they are continually in a defensive struggle to keep jobs, or to get more job opportunities because the population is steadily declining. This is a huge struggle. (…). It has been very difficult here, poor electric system, poor road conditions which have though improved. But with the electrical issues, there is almost no electricity to spare and you know a lot of opportunities have slipped through their fingers because of that. (Oral source, August 3rd, 2020).

Due to the struggle with population decline, the municipalities in the Westfjords might be prioritizing reducing population decline and improving the standard of living in the area over environmental issues. Chloe argued that the municipalities first need to fulfil the basic needs of the people and then they could start thinking about environmental issues afterwards. She felt that people need to feel good, be able to get the necessary service, be able to provide for themselves and pay the bills and then people could “allow themselves the privilege of taking care of the environment”. She argued that it was the “struggle for survival” that controls what they do (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Studies in social sciences suggest that individuals and communities mostly start putting focus on environmental affairs once the basic needs of the society have been met (Dietz et al., 2005). One can argue that the basic human needs of all individuals in Iceland, including the Westfjords, are being met. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, basic human needs can be put into two categories, 1) physiological needs which include access to food, water, shelter and rest and 2) safety needs which include feeling of security and safety (Pittman & Zeigler, 2007). Chloe stated that the municipality itself is financially well off, but the companies working within the municipality are not financially well of as many

42 of them, especially coastal fisheries, are struggling to stay afloat (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Even though some companies are struggling and the Westfjords are dealing with various issues that need to be improved, such as better road conditions, improved access to electricity etc., it does not mean that the basic human needs of the society are not met. Most participants felt that the municipalities were not putting much effort into environmental affairs because they are focusing on other issues, however, that can lead to a positive feedback loop as companies might be discouraged to set up their operation in the municipality as mentioned by George (Oral source, August 3rd, 2020), which then can lead to missed opportunities and lower tax revenues which limits the municipalities abilities to provide the necessary service for their residents which then again results in continued population decline (Eydal et al., 2016). One can therefore argue that putting more emphasis on environmental issues and creating a desirable working space in a sustainably managed environment to attract companies to the region should be the priority of the municipalities in the Westfjords. As studies show, due to the environmental crisis we are currently facing there has been an increased pressure on companies from their clients to put more emphasis on environmental affairs (de Freitas Netto et al., 2020). One of the participants mentioned that their clients are not only requesting information about the company’s environmental policy, but they also want to know how the community works that they are operating in and how environmental affairs are being handled by the municipality. His company had requested to see the environmental policy for two municipalities that concerned his business but the municipalities in question had not sent them any of the documents they requested, despite repeated attempts:

George: We have been requesting to get the environmental policy from [name of a municipality] and [name of another municipality]. (…). And it hasn’t worked. It doesn’t exist. (…). Which is very bad. It would help us a lot if the municipalities had an environmental policy. (…). An environmental policy from the municipality would support what we are doing. You asked about our clients earlier, this is what they are asking about. How does the community work? Are you located in a region where the ocean is clean? How is the sewerage system? Does the sewage go into the ocean? If so, is it processed? How is the policy regarding that for the next 5 years? What about the next 10 years? Etc. And we have had to answer this ourselves. We have not been able to get any answers from the municipalities. (Oral source, August 4th, 2020).

It has been suggested that the amalgamation of the municipalities in the Westfjords could strengthen the municipalities because it could lead to better utilization of resources 43 which would enable the communities to take on more projects from the state (Eydal et al., 2016). The amalgamation of the municipalities in the Westfjords were frequently brought up in the interviews by the participants. When I started taking the interviews, I did not include any questions about the amalgamation of the municipalities or how cooperation between the municipalities worked but many participants brought up the topic themselves in relation to environmental affairs and cooperation between their company and their municipality. Many of the participants believed that the amalgamation of municipalities would be positive for the residents. Andrew, for example, discussed his frustration with not being able to contact the municipality to discuss certain issues or demand something without having to contact his relatives, family friends or a former babysitter of his. He felt that he didn’t get to grow up in his municipality and that people working with the municipality didn’t take his issues seriously enough because he was always looked at as “little Andrew” even though he was around 40 years old (Oral source, July 15th, 2020). Andrew further expressed that he felt there was too much cliquishness in his municipality and that some companies or individuals were given preferential treatment over others because they were friends or family members of the local government. He thought that if the municipalities were to amalgamate then this cliquishness might stop (Oral source, July 15th, 2020). Marcus had a similar experience and he said there were mostly old ruling families that controlled everything in his municipality. He said that this sometimes led to reluctance with the local government to work with certain individuals or companies that they had a clashed with, or in his own words: “you danced with my girlfriend at a school dance 40 years ago so I’m not going to talk to you” (Oral source, July 10th, 2020). Marcus felt that it would be positive for his municipality to amalgamate with a larger municipalities close by even though it would swallow the smaller municipality, both because it might reduce the cliquishness in the community and also because the larger municipality are more thinking about and discussing various issues, including environmental issues (Oral source, July 10th, 2020). George felt that the municipalities in the Westfjords should amalgamate because larger municipalities were better equipped to combat various issues than smaller municipalities. For example, he was dissatisfied that his municipality did not have an environmental policy because he wanted the municipality to demand rules of conduct that not only the

44 municipality should follow, but also all the families and companies in the municipality. In George’s experience this was not the case in his municipality because he felt the local government were “co-dependent with all sorts of nonsense” and he mentioned as an example that some of the companies in the municipality are taking their waste to be illegally burned at one of the farms in the municipality. He states that the municipality is fully aware of this but chooses not to act on it because they are “co-dependent with an eccentric that is polluting like crazy” (Oral source, August 3rd, 2020). Elizabeth mentioned that there was so much potential for the municipalities to work closer together, but she experienced that the relationship between some of the municipalities in the Westfjords was so strained because of some decades old conflicts that it was hindering cooperation between municipalities. As an example, she mentioned that Ísafjarðarbær, Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður and Súðavíkurhreppur all have different waste management systems even though Súðavíkurhreppur and Bolungarvíkurkaupstaður are both within a 20-minute driving distance from Ísafjarðarbær. However, she experienced a reluctance to combine the waste management of these municipalities because none of the municipalities want the other municipalities to be able to tell them what to do because “they did something in 1972 that offended us”. Elizabeth felt that the EarthCheck certificate had the potential to enhance cooperation between municipalities, but she didn’t know how that could be done when many of the municipalities had such a strained relationship (Oral source, July 14th, 2020). These issues with “cliquishness” or “co-dependency”, as the participants referred to it, in small municipalities might become less of an issue if the municipalities would amalgamate because it can be hard to get people to run for municipality offices in small municipalities in Iceland which often leads to the responsibility falling repeatedly in the hands of the same group of individuals (Guðmundsson & Karlsson, 2019). One of the participants felt that the people running for the municipality office in his municipality were not well equipped to handle the responsibility of the job.

Andrew: Most of the municipalities are very small and most of the people here in the local government are not qualified to be in the local government, and that’s just the way things are. I expect it to be like this in many small places. There are just not enough qualified people and the people who are running for the office perhaps don’t have the ambition, the drive or knowledge to do this job. This people might not be able to run a large company and would not be elected for the local government in a 45

larger municipality. Even though this is a small town, then it is like running a large company. This is the working place of XX people that live here. (Oral source, July 15th, 2020).

Due to the small size of many municipalities in the Westfjords it was not uncommon that the people who work for the municipality to hold other jobs with one of the companies in the area. Chloe for example mentioned that there was no director of the local council in her municipality and that the members of the local government were working part-time with the municipality, while also having a fulltime job elsewhere (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Marcus, who is in the tourism industry, and Christopher, who is in the seafood industry, also mentioned that a member of their staff was also working for the municipality, which has benefited their companies (Oral source, July 10th, 2020; Oral source, July 15th, 2020). Christopher mentioned that even though their staff member who also worked for the municipality couldn’t be involved in discussion about their company, she could bring their issues into other discussions (Oral source, July 15th, 2020). Andrew discussed how small municipalities do not have the financial resources to fix some environmental issues and as an example he mentions sewage disposal. He says that his municipality is doing the best they can with what they have, and that the environment is in good conditions so it’s unnecessary to put extra funds into environmental protection. To illustrate that point he told me to drive by the coast and watch the beach to check whether I could see any garbage there or any pollution coming from the fish farming (Oral source, July 15th, 2020). This is interesting because it sounds like he is perceiving pollution as only what you can see with your own eyes. Andrew, for example, mentioned the sewage disposal and that it wasn’t bad for the environment having it dumped unfiltered into the ocean. He said that it is organic material and mentioned that he is frequently swimming in the ocean and he has not encountered any human waste while swimming which led him to the conclusion that the sewage wasn’t polluting the ocean (Oral source, July 15th, 2020). Elizabeth mentioned that she knew of a master’s student that conducted a study on what influence the sewage disposal in Ísafjörður town had on life near the sewage pipes. His study showed that there was no life to be found in a couple of meter radius around the pipes as there was a couple of meters high pile of human waste and toilet paper near the pipes (Oral source, July 14th, 2020). Andrew, however, lives in a municipality with much fewer inhabitants than Ísafjörður, but Ísafjörður town is not a

46 large town population wise either, with a population of 2703 people (Hagstofa Íslands, 2020c). Thus, even though people perceive that their community is not causing any environmental damage due to their small size, then there is a lot going on underneath the surface which we might not be able to see with our own eyes. Chloe expressed similar views, she said that due to the small size of her municipality they were not polluting much compared to larger cities (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). This idea of connecting the small size of the municipalities with not needing to focus on environmental issues was also present with some of the companies. For example, Jessica, who works in the tourism industry, mentioned that her company was so small and had such a small environmental impact because they were not producing anything, so she didn’t know what they could really do to limit their environmental impact (Oral source, July 7th, 2020). Even though as Andrews says, the municipality is doing the best they can with what they have and perhaps as Chloe said not polluting as much as larger towns in Iceland or other places in the world, the local government of small municipalities should still prioritize environmental issues because our economy and society is dependent on the natural environment. Local governments play an important role in environmental affairs and even though, as Elizabeth says, environmental issues should concern every person in the Westfjords (Oral source, July 14th, 2020) it is ultimately the local government role to encourage companies and families to focus on environmental affairs and provide the venue for cooperation between different institutes (Burstrom, 2000). If the municipalities are fully willing to take the environment into account in all decision making, as they stated when they applied for the EarthCheck certificate (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b) then one of the steps that must be taken is that each municipality should have an environmental policy. The environmental policy would not only be beneficial for the municipality itself, but it could also work as an encouragement for the companies in the municipality to follow suit.

4.3 Public Participation Another common theme in the interviews was that the participants wanted increased public participation on matters concerning their municipality because they felt that information flow from the municipalities was insufficient. For example, most of the participants did not know whether their municipality had an environmental policy or not, nor had they heard about the EarthCheck environmental certificate. If the municipalities 47 in the Westfjords were to get the companies in the region more involved with environmental issues and focus on sustainable use of resources, they would likely be able to accomplish much more. As Steven mentioned, companies play a very important role in environmental issues because companies are significantly larger than families and have a much greater environmental impact, so if the municipalities are able to influence a few companies to focus more on environmental issues, it would have the same effect as influencing a significant number of families (Oral source, July 2nd, 2020). However, Jessica felt that more emphasis is put on working with individuals than companies:

Jessica: Companies play a big role [in environmental issues], even more so than individuals. Much more I would say. But of course everybody must contribute. But companies, I think we are often appealing more to individuals, but less to companies, working with them and trying to push them forward. (Oral source, July 7th, 2020).

Carl suggested that the municipalities should start by having a serious talk about their environmental policy and their focus on environmental issues with the residents and companies. By the end of our interview he mentioned that he was glad that I came to talk with him because it made him feel that his opinions on environmental issues mattered (Oral source, July 14th, 2020). By engaging companies through public participation the municipalities might be able to foster an environment where the companies felt encouraged to share their opinions and that they were listened to and acknowledged. Jessica further discussed how our interview was making her start to think more about how her company could improve their performance on environmental issues (Oral source, July 7th, 2020). In fact, one of the objectives of public participation should be to increase environmental awareness among the public which can enhance the public’s commitment towards environmental issues (Poppe et al., 2018). Jessica runs a small tourism business and she was not sure what her company could do to improve their environmental performance because the company was not producing anything and therefore according to her, had limited environmental impact. She did however express her desire to get further consultation or instruction on how her company could practically reduce their environmental impact, but she wasn’t sure where she could go to receive such assistance (Oral source, July 7th, 2020). Lucas also felt that the municipalities should have increased environmental education to instruct companies on what they could do to reduce their environmental impact (Oral source, July 13th, 2020). 48

Noah suggests that the municipalities can involve companies through public participation. He mentioned that the master plan for his municipality won awards from the National Planning Agency for comprehensive data because they consulted with their residents who were encouraged to share their ideas. The municipality had worked with different clubs from the community, such as sport clubs, however, they did not involve the companies in the municipality. Noah suggests that the municipality needs to change tactics and facilitate such group work with the companies in the municipality to encourage them to get involved with environmental issues (Oral source, July 10th, 2020). Equivalently, George argues that it’s not enough for the municipalities to just have the EarthCheck certificate, they also need to contact the companies in the Westfjords and get them involved with environmental issues so they can pull together and cooperate to bring this environmental certificate to the next level (Oral source, August 4th, 2020). George wants the municipalities to have an environmental policy that all the residents and companies are familiar with (Oral source, August 4th, 2020). Currently, not all the municipalities in the Westfjords have an environmental policy; George had unsuccessfully tried to obtain the environmental policy from two of the municipalities (Oral source, August 3rd, 2020) and Marcus said that he had browsed through his municipality’s website to find their environmental policy, but was not able to locate it (Oral source, July 10th, 2020). If the municipalities that do not currently have an environmental policy would like to create one then it might prove beneficial for them to involve both individuals and companies, because as previously mentioned, various studies indicate that policies where the public has been allowed to influence the decision-making process have shown faster progress than policies without the input of the public (Ewing, 2003). Educating the public about environmental protection is an important part of public participation (Rowe & Frewer, 2000). Chloe, however, points out that there is a diverse group of people who own companies in the Westfjords, with very different educational backgrounds. On one hand, there are highly educated individuals that have taken courses on environmental issues, while on the other hand there are individuals that have not sought higher education or familiarized themselves with the topic of environmental issues, but still care about their natural environment. She argues that people in the Westfjords are generally motivated to protect the natural environment because they

49 were raised in nature and care deeply for it (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). The municipalities must, therefore, consider the different knowledge level the public has about environmental issues. Informing the public about environmental issues is a key ingredient to facilitate fruitful public participation, however, the information made available must be presented in a way so the municipalities can reach people with different educational backgrounds (Gudowsky & Bechtold, 2013). One example of where public participation might prove beneficial for the municipalities in the Westfjords is in relation to the composting of organic waste. On the website of the municipality of Ísafjarðarbær they discuss the considerable cost of waste management in the municipality and to combat that issue and to lower the cost of waste management for the residents they started collecting organic materials separately to be composted, starting in 2019 (Ísafjarðarbær, 2018). It is estimated that 45% of all municipal solid waste in Europe encompasses organic material (Cerda et al., 2018). Ísafjarðarbær municipality estimates that 90-120 tons of organic material from their inhabitants goes to landfills every year (Ísafjarðarbær, 2018). Separating organic material from waste sent to landfills is a big environmental issue because it reduces the emission of greenhouse gases emitted from the landfills (Cerda et al., 2018). According to the 2019 National Inventory Report for Iceland, waste management accounts for 5% of the greenhouse gases emitted from Iceland in the year 2017, of which methane emission from landfills is the largest contributor (Umhverfisstofnun, 2019). Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 28 – 36 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a heat-trapping gas and it is emitted during the decomposition of organic material (US EPA, n.d.). Thus, composting organic material reduced the amount of methane emitted into the atmosphere from landfills (Cerda et al., 2018). Noah praised his municipality for the initiative with composting organic material due to the positive environmental impact (Oral source, July 10th, 2020).

Noah: I think it’s very positive that [name of municipality] is now collecting organic waste, they have stopped driving them on trucks and dumping it in a landfill by . (…). You always must think about the life cycle. If you compost, then you can use it for revegetation or sell it to the people to use in the garden instead of dumping it in the ground in the south where it emits methane. If you don’t collect it then it will go into the atmosphere and it is 23 times more dangerous than CO2. This

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is a huge environmental issue, but nobody is bothered to think about it. That’s why I think it’s so positive that they took this step. (Oral source, July 10th, 2020).

As beneficial as composting organic material is for reducing a community’s environmental impact, there are also various challenges that individuals can face when each home is required to have their individual composting bins. These challenges include, but are not limited to, the odour emitted from the composting bin (Cerda et al., 2018) as well as the limited space people may have in their garden for composting bins. Chloe discussed the challenges her parents were facing with their composting bins which were due to the fact that their garden was not large enough to have the composting bins a sufficient distance away from the house so they wouldn’t be inconvenienced by the odour and flies that accompany the decaying food waste (Oral source, July 6th, 2020).

Chloe: What I would like to see is the compost. We are not supposed to throw anything away except the compost, but there is no one that take the compost from the homes, rather they expect each home to have their own compost. (…). I think people would much rather prefer that they would be able to bring their organic material to a communal compost and they would make the compost, not that we have to make it ourselves. (Oral source, July 6th, 2020).

Even though people might support the idea of composting in their communities, it’s important to execute the idea in such a way that it will keep the residents invested and motivated to follow through with it. Even though Chloe was supportive of composting in general, but she felt that the municipality could not expect each and every home to have individual composting bins outside their house, rather communal composting bins that would cause less inconvenience for the residents (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Chloe’s municipality might have benefitted from engaging the public to find the best possible solution for the composting bins that work for the residents. Jessica’s municipality has not yet implemented composting into their waste management system, however, there has been a discussion about doing so (Oral source, July 7th, 2020).

Jessica: I have heard that there was an idea to have a couple of compost bins in the town, one large in each neighbourhood. But then nothing has happened, and that was a while ago. I think if they do it, then they need to have it something like that. Make it comfortable for people. It’s a good idea to have a compost but it is very important to think about how it should be implemented, not just jump on board and do something very clever. (…). You need to implement it correctly so people use it. I know when there was a compost bin here it was just a problem because there were so many flies around the [name of company]. (Oral source, July 7th, 2020). 51

Jessica discusses the importance of correct implementation. She mentions that she has become much more aware of the organic waste that is being thrown into landfills in plastic bags where they will stay for decades and decades. She supports composting but at the same time she is not willing to have her own individual composting bin outside her company because of the odour accompanied by it (Oral source, July 7th, 2020). This highlights the importance that the municipalities use public participation when making decision concerning the residents because people are often opposed to policy change that affect their lives if they do not understand the importance of the policy change, do not agree with the methods, timing of the policy change or how the intended goals are to be reached (Ewing, 2003). By getting the public involved in the decision-making process it can lead to the public experiencing a sense of ownership and a feeling of responsibility to protect the natural environment (Richardson & Razzaque, 2006). Jessica mentioned that when the grocery stores started charging for the small plastic bags used for fruits, vegetables, etc., people stopped buying them. She did not perceive that it was about the couple of ISK that the plastic bags cost, rather that people suddenly realised that plastic pollution was a large issue which motivated people to do their part in reducing it (Oral source, July 7th, 2020). Perhaps if people would have more information about the importance of composting to reduce the emission of methane people would be more motivated to participate in the project. The success of a recycling program is dependent on the public’s actions and willingness to participate (Abdel-Shafy & Mansour, 2018). As Jessica and Chloe mention, the correct implementation of the composting bins is crucial for the viability of the project. If the municipalities were to get the public more involved in the decision-making process regarding composting it might avoid project delays and thus save money by reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills near Borgarnes.

4.4 The value of an environmental policy Customers today have become more aware of the environmental crisis we are currently facing which has resulted in an increased demand from customers that the production of the goods they purchase are produced in a sustainable manner (de Freitas Netto et al., 2020). Most participants of this study were fully aware of the importance of both sustainable production and the traceability of where their products originated. Most of the participants that worked at companies that were producing something said that they 52 had experienced increased demand from customers to have an environmental policy or an environmental certificate. George, for example, who’s company gets his raw material from the ocean, said that he has noticed a lot of changes in the last couple of years as their buyers, who come from all over the world, are continually making stricter requirements about how their company operates in the natural environment as they want to know where their product is coming from and whether its produced in a sustainable manner. George mentioned that his company was doing very well on that part because they know from what square meter of the ocean their raw material originated and that there was an environmental impact assessment conducted for the company (Oral source, August 3rd, 2020). Carl, who works in the seafood industry, had a similar experience as they had an environmental policy made for their company as a requirement from their buyers (Oral source, July 14th, 2020). This increased demand from consumers to know the origin of the products they are purchasing was especially felt with participants that retrieved their raw material from the ocean. Many of them noted that they were either not able to sell their product without having an environmental certificate and an environmental policy for the company, or if they were able to sell the products without it, they would get a lower price for the products. Carl, for example, discusses the importance of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certificate which shows that the fisheries are being sustainably managed (Marine Stewardship Council, n.d.). Carl says that his company is able to sell their fish because the fisheries in Iceland are MSC certified. He mentions that companies that fish in regions that are not MSC certified have a much harder time selling their products and if they are able to sell them, they get a much lower price for their product. To illustrate that point, he mentioned that sea angling in Iceland is not MSC certified which means that the fish caught by that method is sold at a much lower price than other catch fished (Oral source, July 14th, 2020). John, who also works in the fishing industry, says that after the female lumpfish around Iceland lost the MSC certificate it became much harder to sell the fish. He mentions as an example that Germany will not buy fish products that are not MSC certified (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Andrew mentions the environmental certificate that the fish farming companies in the Westfjords have and says there is so much at stake with following the protocols to keep

53 the certificate because it increase the value of your product, that the companies are very motivated to follow the requirements of the certificate (Oral source, July 15th, 2020). In fact, a study by the Nielsen Media Research showed that 66% of their respondents were willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products (de Freitas Netto et al., 2020). When asked about what influence the EarthCheck certificate could have on the Westfjords, Ian, who works in the seafood industry, compared the EarthCheck certificate to the MSC certificate for the fisheries. In his experience, production in environmentally certified areas increased the value of your products and despite not having any knowledge about the EarthCheck certificate, he believed that it could have a similar effect on products produced in the Westfjords. He said if you can put a stamp on a product that it comes from an environmentally certified region then it makes the product more easily saleable and more valuable. He mentions that environmental certificates are stamps of quality and that quality insurance is very important for business. The MSC certificate provides that for his company because it tells the buyer that the fisheries are managed and that the natural resource is being used sustainably (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). When applying for the EarthCheck certificate, the municipalities in the Westfjords hoped that the certificate would positively influence the marketing of products from the Westfjords and make them more desirable for consumers (Vestfjarðastofa, 2019b). If properly introduced to the companies in the Westfjords with enhanced cooperation between the two, the EarthCheck certificate might serve as a quality stamp for customers similarly to the MSC certificate. George also observed that having an environmental certificate or environmental policy was instrumental for marketing their products and making it desirable for their customers. The EarthCheck certificate may have a similar effect and increase the value of products from the Westfjords if marketed properly.

George: Our environmental policy plays a key role in the marketing of our company. It’s very important to both being able to show that we have an environmental policy and also that we are implementing that policy. (Oral source, August 3rd, 2020).

The word implementation is quite important here because it’s important to not only being able to tell your customers that you have an environmental policy or an environmental certificate, it’s also important to follow that policy and be able to show your customer that your production is based on a sustainable development model.

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George said that there are a lot of companies that have a very good environmental policy but then they take shortcuts and choose the cheapest way in various situations that does not comply with their environmental policy. He said it made him sad and disappointed when he was reading a company’s environmental policy knowing that he couldn’t take it seriously (Oral source, August 3rd, 2020). A couple of other participants expressed that same feeling, such as Lucas who said that it was good to have an environmental policy but even better to enforce it. He said it was too common that people made environmental policies to please their customers without putting in any effort to follow it (Oral source, July 13th, 2020). As Michelle said, “it’s one thing to have an environmental policy, but it’s another thing to follow it” (Oral source, July 7th, 2020). Having an environmental policy without following it is greenwashing (de Freitas Netto et al., 2020). Greenwashing can be defined as providing misinformation or making exaggerated claims about the environmental responsibility of a company. According to a study conducted by TerraChoice in 2010, on products from the USA and Canada, greenwashing is surprisingly common as 95% of the products inspected were guilty of one of the seven sins of greenwashing (hidden trade-off, no proof, vagueness, irrelevance, lesser of two evils, fibbing and worshiping false labels) (de Freitas Netto et al., 2020). The reason why greenwashing is such a common practice is because it meets the growing requirements from consumers for environmentally responsible products without having to make any real changes to the company’s operation (de Freitas Netto et al., 2020). Carl mentioned that honesty is very important for companies. As an example he mentioned the seafood industry where companies should be honest about how much fish they are retrieving from the ocean and not try to bypass rules and regulations (Oral source, July 14th, 2020). George also noted that there are many companies in Iceland that don’t have an environmental policy and are still doing very well on reducing their environmental impact.

George: We have municipalities that don’t even have an environmental policy and companies that don’t have an environmental policy. But the policy is maybe not what is most important, what is most important is what you do. (Oral source, August 3rd, 2020).

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It’s therefore important to keep in mind that a company that has an environmental policy or an environmental certificate is not necessarily doing any better than those companies that have not yet taken these important steps. For example, one of the participants of this study claimed that his company did not have an official environmental policy, although there has been a discussion within the company to implement such a policy. Despite not having an environmental policy the company is taking active steps in reducing their environmental impact, most significantly by changing the packaging of their products from plastic to paper. The company started making these changes in November 2019 and by the time the interview was conducted at the beginning of July 2020 they had already reduced their plastic consumption by 85% and estimated to have only paper packaging by autumn 2020. When asked why the company decided to change from plastic to paper packaging the owner said it had to do with the negative discussion surrounding plastic in the world, increased requests from customers for environmentally friendly products and because the technology was now available that enabled them to make this change. These changes to the packaging of their products led to increased sales which in this case shows that it’s not just the environmental policy or environmental certificate that positively affect sales of products but it’s the actions undertaken by the company. The company used their change from plastic to paper to market their products and the market responded positively to the company’s more environmentally friendly production. These changes also give them a competitive edge as they are showing initiative and willingness to listen to the demands of their customers (Oral source, July 13th, 2020).

Lucas: We have experienced increased sales [after changing the packaging from plastic to paper]. People are very positive. Of course, a part of the reason why we changed our packaging to paper is because we are in competition with [name of their competitor] and we want to be a step ahead of them. We want them to follow us, not us to follow them. So, we are continually on the lookout for innovative things that are advantageous for the company, whether it’s regarding the environment or something else. Even though it’s more expensive than the plastic we just decided to go for it. But of course we plan to profit from it. Everybody is in this to make money. (Oral source, July 13th, 2020).

Lucas there discusses that the changes from plastic packaging to paper packaging were profit driven and that they made these changes to have a competitive edge over

56 their competitors. Andrew also notes that companies are profit driven and in his experience the environment was only given consideration if the company thought they could profit from having an environmental policy (Oral source, July 15th, 2020).

Andrew: Look, I think most companies are trying to save expenses when it comes to environmental issues unless they can profit from it. And then I mean for a positive image, not that these people don’t care. When you have a group of investors then everything is profit driven and the environment is given low priority. Unless they can put it into the price or with PR work or something like that. I think that is the reality with most companies in Iceland. (Oral source, July 15th, 2020).

Lucas also mentions that even though many companies speak highly of environmental issues they only support it if they benefit financially from it (Oral source, July 13th, 2020). Chloe mentioned that a company must be profitable before it can start focusing on environmental affairs (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). However, various studies have shown that it’s not only financially beneficial for companies to implement an environmental strategy, but it can also increase customer satisfaction and lead to increased commitments from staff (Moser, 2016). Noah also discussed that the companies that are not working on improving their environmental performance are only damaging their company because environmental issues will only become more important in the near future (Oral source, July 10th, 2020). Studies also indicate that the younger generations are more environmentally aware than other generations which should serve as an influential factor for businesses to focus more on environmental affairs to cater to this growing number of consumers (Wang et al., 2018). Lucas had a similar experience with the younger generation being more environmentally aware and pushing for more environmentally friendly products.

Lucas: We have only received positive feedback to these changes [changing the packaging from plastic to paper]. Especially from the younger generations, they are more environmentally conscious. Older folks are perhaps not yet fully there. But many, when you consider the whole, with the younger generation, then most are thinking about these things. Both the packaging and food waste and all these things that are being discussed all the time. (Oral source, July 13th, 2020).

Economic benefits are the main drivers of change within a company, and a reluctance to change may lead to economic losses (Lozano, 2015). Preserving the environment is not only profitable for companies to increase their sales but it‘s also profitable in the long run

57 because like in the example of the companies that participated in this study they all rely in one way or another on the natural environment to create their products. As Andrew said: “we are using the natural environment to create value” (Oral source, July 15th, 2020). Whether the company is in the service industry or is creating products from the natural environment, they are dependent on the environment being in good clean conditions to be able to run their business. The participants of this study were aware of how privileged they were to be able to operate in the Westfjords which are known for clean unspoilt nature and the advantages that image of the Westfjords brings to their product. For example, Marcus, who works in the tourism industry, said that most companies in the Westfjords that work in tourism are working on environmental affairs alongside the tourism industry because they are well aware that the natural environment is what makes the Westfjords unique (Oral source, July 10th, 2020). Many of the participants that were creating products in the Westfjords further illustrated how advantageous it was for the company to be creating products in an environment that has an image of being a clean environment. Lucas, for example, said that it was very advantageous for his company that the Westfjords was known for being a natural paradise with beautiful nature, little population and no large-scale industry (Oral source, July 13th, 2020). Steven said because their raw material comes from the ocean then they are dependent on having access to clean ocean which motivates them to take good care of the natural resources. He argued that the organic certificate that his company has is a confirmation that they are taking care of the natural environment, which helps them fulfil the requirements from their clients (Oral source, July 2nd, 2020). George’s company also obtains their raw material from the ocean and he said the image of the pristine ocean in north-western Iceland helps their company to sell their products (Oral source, August 3rd, 2020). Ian, who works in the seafood industry, says that they are selling freshness which motivates them to focus on environmental affairs beyond what is required by law (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Many of the participants also noted that it was not only important to focus on environmental issues because of increased requirements made from customers, but also because it’s important for companies to have a clean environment to operate in. If they pollute the environment then they are only damaging their own business, meaning that environmental responsibility is interconnected to their companies continued success. Ian,

58 who works in the seafood industry, discusses the importance of sustainable use of the wild fish stock, because if they overfish, they are only destroying their own business (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). For Ian, the sustainable use of natural resources touches upon all three pillars of sustainable development; environment, economy and society. If his company uses the natural resource unsustainably, they will damage their business which will most likely influence the community if the business goes under because of the limited number of companies located in many small towns in the Westfjords (Oral source, July 6th, 2020). Environmental conservation is vital for human survival because we depend on the ecosystem services that the environment provides (Sandifer et al., 2015). When asked what they thought about when they heard the word environmental protection, most participants thought about using the natural environment without causing irreversible environmental damage. For example, Jonathan, who is both a farmer and uses raw material from the ocean, says that to him, environmental protection is first and foremost the idea that we do not own the natural environment, we are only borrowing it from our descendants, thus we cannot treat the natural environment in a way that damages it. However, he says that he wants to be able to use the natural resources, if it does not cause irreversible damage (Oral source, July 1st, 2020).

Jonathan: I’m raised with this belief; you don’t kill without a purpose. When we are hunting for [name of what they are hunting] we often get small crabs, maybe 5 cm long. My crewmembers often stare at me in shock when I’m running around the deck picking up the crabs and throwing them back into the ocean. They say: “the crabs will be sorted out during the processing”. Yes, but we are not going to just kill these crabs for no reason, we just put them back into the ocean. It’s exactly that, we have no right to destroy something that is not recoverable. (Oral source, July 1st, 2020).

Many companies seek their raw material in nature so it’s important to not take more than can be regenerated. Carl, who works in the seafood industry, discussed how his company had to make changes to their daily operation after the Covid-19 pandemic started. This bears many similarities to how environmental responsibility can positively influence companies. The participant stated that since the first wave of Covid-19 they have not let any outsiders into their company‘s buildings, they clean and disinfect all contact surfaces a couple of times a day and put more emphasis on personal hygiene. What they noticed is that after Covid-19 not one staff member had come down with the flu or called in sick (Oral source, July 14th, 2020). In my mind the Covid-19 restrictions and 59 environmental responsibility bear many similarities because in the same way that it‘s beneficial for a company to take care of hygiene and forbidding unnecessary access to the company it is also beneficial for a company to not take more from the environment than necessary and to limiting pollution to make sure our natural environment can operate normally and doesn’t get “sick”. Because if the natural environment does become sick, it can hinder the company’s ability to utilize the natural resources they have grown accustomed to having access to in the past.

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5 Discussion A study with only 16 participants cannot provide a comprehensive overview about the companies in the Westfjords stance on environmental issues, their knowledge about the EarthCheck environmental certificate and their perception of their municipality’s actions on environmental issues. However, the study does provide a certain insight into why it’s important for both companies and the municipalities in the Westfjords to put more emphasis on environmental issues. Further study on this topic would be needed to gain a deeper insight into the companies’ views which should include a larger sample size from all occupation fields in the Westfjords. This study mostly included companies that retrieve their raw material from the ocean and tourism companies, but it would be interesting to include more diverse companies. It might also be useful for the municipalities in the Westfjords to have focus groups to get constructive feedback and ideas. This might enable the municipalities in the Westfjords to increase cooperation with companies in the region so that they can unitedly work on environmental issues. Environmental issues should be the concern of every individual on our planet, the authorities should be the driving force behind influencing companies to focus more on environmental issues. It might therefore prove useful for the municipalities in the Westfjords, as well as all municipalities in Iceland, to increase cooperation with companies since companies contribute to environmental degradation.

The municipalities in Snæfellsnes peninsula were the first community in Iceland to be awarded with an EarthCheck environmental certificate and it would be interesting to conduct the same study with companies in Snæfellsnes to see how they view environmental issues and the EarthCheck certificate and compare with the situation in the Westfjords. Furthermore, it would prove useful to conduct interviews with people working at each municipality office to learn about their views on EarthCheck. This study only provides a one-sided view about the lack of information flow about EarthCheck but by interviewing the staff at municipalities’ offices one might learn something about the other side to gain an understanding of why the municipalities have not introduced the EarthCheck certificate to private companies in the region. The participants of this study that worked with smaller companies often mentioned that they did not think their company polluted a lot so they did not know how they could

61 improve their environmental performance. Furthermore, the participants mentioned that small companies often do not have the financial resources to get outside assistance to develop environmental policies or get advice on how their company can limit their environmental impact. The municipalities in the Westfjords have shown interest in working more closely with the companies on environmental issues and one of the steps they might consider is consultation to companies on what they can do to limit their environmental impact. The Westfjords Nature Research Centre is responsible for the work related to the EarthCheck environmental certificate for the municipalities so they might consider including consultation services for both companies and individuals that are interested in reducing their environmental impact. Most companies that were producing goods from raw material from the ocean acknowledged that it was financially beneficial for their company to have an environmental certificate or an environmental policy because their clients were requesting to know the origin of their products and wanted to purchase sustainably produced products. It would be interesting to study further what motivates companies in Iceland to have an environmental policy or a certificate and what value they attach to that certificate or policy. The tourism companies interviewed did not have environmental policies so it would be interesting to look specifically into the reasoning behind why companies do not have environmental policies in the light of the realisation of their spokespeople that it’s good and beneficial to have such policies. Furthermore, it was pointed out by some of the participants that it is one thing to have an environmental policy and another thing to follow it, thusly it would be interesting to learn about how companies incorporate their environmental policy into their daily operation and how it has influenced their business. Moreover, it would be interesting to study how companies use their environmental policy or certificate to market their products and whether it results in increased business.

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6 Conclusion This thesis provides the reader with an overview of the challenges the municipalities in the Westfjords are dealing with in relation to population decline, transportation and occupation, as well as the EarthCheck environmental certificate that they have been awarded with.

In relation to the first research question of this master’s thesis, to explore what the companies in the Westfjords know about the EarthCheck environmental certificate, the interviews suggest that representatives of the companies in the Westfjords do not have much knowledge about the EarthCheck environmental certificate. The municipalities have not been actively informing the companies, or the residents, in the Westfjords about EarthCheck, what it means for the Westfjords or how the companies could use it to market their products. Most companies’ representatives acknowledged that it was advantageous for their company to have an environmental policy or a certificate, so in the same way, the EarthCheck certificate could be advantageous to the companies if it was properly introduced to them. Many of the participants felt that the EarthCheck certificate was just for show because they did not feel that the municipalities had been putting more emphasis on environmental issues since they received the certificate. If the municipalities would make easily accessible and understandable material available to their residents about EarthCheck and what projects they are working on in relation to EarthCheck and what has been completed, it might lead to increased support from their residents. As one of the participants noted, he values actions over certificates, so if he were able to see that the EarthCheck certificate really had any influence on environmental issues in the Westfjords then he might be more willing to support it. The municipalities in the Westfjords are sparsely populated, as the total population of the Westfjords is only 7115 people which is spread across the 8700 km2 area of the nine municipalities. Some of the representatives of the companies interviewed felt that the small size of the municipalities often brought up many localized issues, including that small municipalities did not have the resources to put much focus on environmental issues. Furthermore, some participants felt that there was too much cliquishness in the smaller municipalities which resulted in some companies receiving preferential treatment. It was suggested that the amalgamation of the municipalities could provide a

63 solution to these issues because municipalities with a larger population are often better equipped to handle various issues and have greater resources than municipalities with a smaller population. When it comes to the second research question, how companies in the Westfjords can be encouraged to put more emphasis on environmental issues, many of the companies showed interest in increasing cooperation with the municipalities to unitedly work on environmental issues. The concept of public participation was often brought up as many of the participants mentioned that they wanted the municipalities to work closely with the companies in the region to find effective solutions that could reduce their collective environmental impact. One participant mentioned that when the master plan for Ísafjörður town was made the municipal authority consulted with their residents to gain insight into what they thought about various issues. However, the companies in the town were not consulted during the making of the master plan. Perhaps if the municipal authority would also involve and consult companies in the town it might facilitate increased cooperation with the companies. Most companies’ representatives acknowledged the importance of having an environmental policy or an environmental certificate for their operation. This was especially true for companies that were producing something from raw marine material. In their experience, their customers were requesting information about their environmental policy. Moreover, it was financially beneficial for their companies to have an environmental policy or a certificate because it is not only easier to sell products that have been produced in a sustainable manner, but they also got higher prices from their products. It was also mentioned that environmental policies are beneficial for companies in the long run because they are using the natural environment to create value so if their production is unsustainable then they are only damaging the future of their own company. Therefore, it’s beneficial for companies to not deplete the natural resource beyond what is recoverable. Some of the participants mentioned that it’s not enough to have an environmental policy or a certificate as you also need to be able to show your customers how you are implementing it. This relates back to the EarthCheck environmental certificate because the participants had very limited knowledge about EarthCheck and they did not see how the certificate had changed the way the

64 municipalities handled environmental issues. It might therefore be beneficial for the municipalities in the Westfjords to finalize some smaller projects where one can easily see improvements in the natural environment, such as cleaning the beaches, planting trees, etc. It was far too common that the participants believed the EarthCheck certificate was just for show, but by making these visible changes the residents and companies in the region can see that the municipalities are putting focus on environmental issues and that the EarthCheck certificate is improving the natural environment. There is a lot of potential for the municipalities in the Westfjords to utilize the EarthCheck certificate to enhance cooperation with the companies in the Westfjords so they can unitedly put more emphasis on environmental issues. Based on this study it is safe to conclude that the municipalities have not been taking advantage of the EarthCheck certificate to market products from the Westfjords despite stating in the master plan for the region that it’s one of the objectives of the EarthCheck certificate. Hopefully the municipalities in the Westfjords will increase cooperation with the companies by formally introducing them to the EarthCheck certificate and then involve them in the decision-making process when making environmental policies or the master plan for the Westfjords.

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Appendix – Interview questionnaire

Interview questionnaire: 1. Can you tell me about the company you work with and what your job is? 2. Can you tell me what you think when you hear the word environmental protection / environmental issues? 3. What role do you think companies in general have in environmental protection? 4. Does your company have an environmental policy? a. If yes i. Can you tell me about it? ii. Do you use the environmental policy to market your company? iii. Have you noticed any changes in consumer behaviour since you made the environmental policy? b. If no i. Has there been a discussion within the company to make an environmental policy? 5. How do you perceive public opinions in the Westfjords about your company in relation to the environment? 6. Have you felt any pressure from the municipality to put more emphasis on environmental issues? a. Has the municipality ever made any suggestions on how you can do better on environmental issues? 7. The municipalities in the Westfjords have an EarthCheck environmental certificate. Can you tell me your opinions about this? 8. What influence, if any, do you believe the EarthCheck environmental certificate has on your company? 9. Have you noticed that the municipalities in the Westfjords have put more emphasis on environmental protection since they received the EarthCheck certificate? 10. How do you think your municipality can improve their environmental policies? 11. Are there any specific environmental issues that you would like your municipality to work on/put more emphasis on? 74

12. If interested - how do you think your company can contribute to environmental protection? 13. What do you think is the best way to get companies in the Westfjords to work with the municipalities on environmental issues? 14. Is there something you would like to add?

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