Guided tour of the Fram Museum.
Prime Minister Støre and His Royal Higness Crown Prince Haakon at the Fram Museum. Credit: Storm Halvorsen / Fram Museum

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Roald Amundsen at the North Pole – 100 years

Your Royal Highness, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I really appreciate this opportunity – and thank you for everything you have done to make it happen. And we are really in this together, I can assure you. But let us reflect on the fact that we have a century that we celebrate.

We celebrated, in August last year, 100 years of Norwegian sovereignty of Svalbard. There are indeed certain centuries that we really should pay attention to. And I thank your ingenuity to lift this event, I thank you for that, because it is of great importance to our country. So, at these times – Amundsen, a character who is so fascinating – there are still so many ‘unknowns’ about him; he was really after ‘the white, empty areas’ on the map. And at the time of his life, well, there were quite a few of them. Now, we think that there is nothing that we don't know – and that is probably wrong.

But at Amundsen's time, he set out to prove and find out – what was on the other side? What would he find – further on in his travel? Where should he land? How would the wind conditions be there? I can just imagine that any kind of proof-reading of that expedition must have had so many unknowns. It was another remarkable achievement of human explorations.

He had conquered the South Pole 15 years earlier. The international race towards the North Pole was still very much ongoing. He was ‘obsessed’ by it, as we know.

I think the Director will soon share with us the whole story, which is fascinating, so I will leave that to him. But from my point of view, I will share a few reflections with you – a century after Roald Amundsen reached the North Pole.

What did this achievement mean? There is not one ultimate answer, but here are a few reflections:

Into the unknown

First, this phenomena on the unknown. – I think for the human being, it is important to have something which is unknown that is driving us. Because if everything is known, we will stand still. And in his time, Amundsen's achievement speaks to the courage that really was there to embark on uncharted paths. The ‘white spots’, as I said; into the unknown, the big uncertainties. What would he see? What could happen?

And it is a contrast to our times, where we seem to have been everywhere, we seem to know everything, seen everything, even the dark side of the moon. Well, I don’t know, but almost all places on Earth are accessible on our mobile phones. We know how long time it takes to get there. Everything is prescribed into that.

Amundsen didn't know, and he and his men did not know; what would they meet on the other side, when they passed the North Pole? They would fly into the unknown. So, well, they continued flying. They stood at the airship's windows, looking down. It was misty, and then they saw some seagulls, and they appreciated that they were coming to Alaska. But it could have been somewhere very different.

And for the first time, and this is important, they got real proof that the Arctic is in fact an ocean. And I think, you know, as Norwegian Prime Minister, I still have to explain this to people: Arctic is not a rock with ice, as the Antarctica. This is an ocean with ice. Gradually, less and less ice. This means, for example, that we have to explain to people, that the Law of the Sea applies in the Arctic. That the Arctic is not a ‘terra nullius’. There is a legal order.

And those who think that they can conquer land by simply being ‘a big nation’ up there, they are wrong. And we tell them they are wrong, and we can prove it also from international law. So, this is a reflection on this dilemma, or this dimension of the unknown.

Innovation

Then, of course, we have to appreciate the innovation. His journey across the Arctic Ocean, like all great explorations, as his explorations, was more than just reaching a geographic point. It was also about technical innovation. And some of us, I think, have this little tendency of being ‘obsessed’ by polar expeditions. – Studying how Amundsen did this – his ski journey to the South Pole, and the innovation in every detail of the clothing, of what he had in his sledge, use of dogs, what he had for food, and all of that, a remarkable innovation.

Here they were able to navigate one of the harshest, most unpredictable environments on Earth. So that is, for Umberto Nobile and all the people contributing, I think, a triumph of technology by that time. Many had tried and failed in the journey for the North Pole, from explorers on skis and dog-sledges to those who tried a boat plane.

So, Amundsen's idea was to say, well, if not, if not him, who else? And if not on an airship, what else? So, in partnership – as you know, Ambassador of Italy, with the renowned Italian engineer, Umberto Nobile, this cutting-edge airship was built. I am always amazed by how big it was, amazingly big. And how would that not drift away and simply get lost? But they were capable of withstanding the extreme cold and unpredictable weather. It's impressive.

And Amundsen – again – his life as an explorer illustrates how these technological developments also made expeditions using less physical strength and more fossil fuel, by the way. In 1911, skis and dog-sledges to the South Pole; in 1922, two open planes trying to reach the North Pole, and then; in 1926, pretty ‘relaxed’, but it must have been pretty cold, on board that airship, flying over the North Pole.

Climate change

And thirdly, of course, and this is what makes this so relevant today, the dimension of climate change.

Today, in the Arctic and Svalbard, and Ambassador (of Italy) – you have just come back from Svalbard – much has changed. Global warming has caused rapid warming and taken a heavy toll on both glaciers and sea ice, especially on Svalbard, where warming is happening much faster.

According to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Svalbard has experienced warming over the last 50 years that is two to two and a half times higher than the Arctic average, or five to seven times higher than the global average. So, it really matters.

All this knowledge was collected and systemized 25 years ago by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), a very important scientific across-international undertaking in the Arctic, one of the Arctic Council's working groups by the way, and used by the IPCC, the UN's Panel on Climate Change, in their important reports that led to the IPCC winning the Nobel Peace Prize for their determination that climate change was actually happening. I can remember that, because I was Foreign Minister at that time, when the other laureate, Al Gore, came to Norway, and he was saying; “hadn't it been for this study, we wouldn't have had the knowledge that we have”, which eventually led to the summit in Copenhagen – as you know, Ambassador of Denmark – and then to the summit in Paris a few years later. The developments in the Arctic were just like the canary in the mine. The alarm went off.

Climate change is really leaving its clear marks. When Amundsen's airship departed from Ny-Ålesund for the North Pole, there was still a large amount of sea ice on the fjord outside. Today, we call that fjord ‘a warm fjord’; the fjord outside Ny-Ålesund rarely freezes completely in the winter, and the glaciers have retreated by 10 kilometers since Amundsen's time. And this is obviously not only a threat to wildlife at Svalbard; it is a threat to all of us.

Today – and I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing – anyone who can afford it can travel from Svalbard to the North Pole on a luxury cruise ship. You don't have to take an airship. You can sit there in your armchair. We are, of course, concerned. What if any of those cruise ships really get into trouble up there? Who will be there in time, and what will be their fate? So, there is some risk to it. But they can stay in their suites, enjoy long-distance gourmet food and champagne along the way.

But there is some hope in the fact that Svalbard and Ny-Ålesund today is an important hub for international cooperation on climate change research, hosting a large number of scientists and projects.

International cooperation

Which leads me to my fourth point, and that's following a bit up on your introduction here, Chairwoman, on cooperation. Roald Amundsen was indeed not alone in his undertaking, although he was quite ‘authoritarian’ and selective as to who he went along with. But his efforts were in a way the collective effort of many. From his crew on the ‘Norge’, to the engineers who designed the airship, to the individuals and sponsors who supported him; this expedition was made possible because they were in a large and very advanced collaboration. And by the way, Amundsen was not an easy man to collaborate with, I think we all know. So, this was a joint undertaking in many dimensions.

However, as we know and we should mention this; his psyche was unique. Two years later, in 1928, he volunteered to take part in the rescue operation of Nobile, who had crashed with his new airship on Svalbard. They had a pretty stressful relationship, I think. Nobile had crashed at Nordaust-landet, Svalbard. Amundsen then disappeared on the 18th of June, 1928, in a French plane en route from Tromsø to Svalbard. He probably crashed near Bjørnøya and he was never to be found.

In any case, and it is key for me to emphasize this. In today's world, where we no longer may have geographical points to reach, we have all types of urgent challenges and they transcend borders in every other field. Climate change, pandemics, barriers to global trade, geopolitical tensions, violent conflicts, and none of these can be handled by one country alone. And today, there is at least as much or more at stake as reaching a Pole point or two.

So, the sense of shared purpose should drive us forward, and in Norway’s Polar policy, we are very much aware of that. You mentioned ‘Polhavet 2050’, which we launched in August last year. It is probably the biggest research undertaking we have made on the polar ocean, ‘Arctic Ocean 2050’. The High North was for the government I served in 2005, the key strategic priority for Norwegian foreign policy. This was maintained by the government that succeeded the Stoltenberg II government, and it is still a top priority policy area for me and my government.

Our aim is to contribute to the lead in ideas and world-leading knowledge of the Arctic, including the Arctic Ocean. And I would like to thank all the scientists – that I also can see in this room.

Let me mention one point on geopolitical rivalry. When we have an American president who comes up with the idea that ‘we can grab land in the Arctic’; we are small nations to support the Kingdom of Denmark in its resistance, and we are consistent. But I believe that one major advantage we have is that we have knowledge on our side, knowledge of law, knowledge of geography, knowledge of international principles, and knowledge of working – on how we work in network with other countries. And I can tell you that efforts to protect Greenland, to protect the stability in that region is not done and finished. It is not over and we have to maintain our efforts.

I see the ‘Arctic Ocean 2050’ as a way the Arctic countries coming together with collaborators and drawing some kind of circle around this to avoid this kind of completely unreasonable approach.

So, understanding the Arctic is crucial for us in many ways – climate, as I said, geopolitics, seaways, defense and security. And as we see it from Norway – the NATO's ears and eyes in the North – working with our Arctic partners in NATO also to establish that secure framework.

Many countries want to collaborate on the research in the Arctic, and therefore we need to be at the forefront of Arctic research. ‘Arctic Ocean 2050’ is the largest Norwegian research project ever. I announced it back in Tromsø last year. We will go in with more than one billion kroner over the next 10 years with the leading academic communities in Norway. It will be a broad, multidisciplinary project.

Most Arctic and polar research institutions and universities will take part, led by the Arctic University of Tromsø, and there will also be EU funding and significant in-kind contributions. So, a lot is to follow from this. Several foreign polar research institutions have expressed interest – Nordic, European, Canadian, Japanese, and so on and so forth. And this will also be, I think, a significant Norwegian scientific contribution towards the International Polar Year in 2032-33.

So, friends, summing up, ‘we don't need another hero’. – We remember that song? But sometimes you need people who can be seen as heroes in what they have done. So, let us call for a moment this very complex person, Roald Amundsen, a hero. His success in reaching the North Pole was not only about his personal curiosity, breaking records, achieving glory, it was also in a way about humanity's drive to discover and understand the world we live in in the early phase of a century.

Now, we are in an early phase of a new century, and we have to take it on. The North Pole, once symbolizing the edge of human exploration, is now a barometer for the health of our climate and environment. Or canary in the mine, as I said. So, we should let his spirit of exploration take it one step further, look to the horizon and think what lies beyond. – Not perhaps in geography, but in insight and knowledge. Whether we are studying the deepest ocean, making the best use of artificial intelligence, freeing the ocean from plastic for example, freeing it from pollution, or finding new medicines to cure diseases, I believe Amundsen's journey serves as a reminder of the relentless drive to learn more and to know more.

And then my collaborators and I, when we were discussing this, we were kind of reflecting on airships. What do they carry aboard? Perhaps I would never try to board one of those. But they are said to have up to 90% lower emissions per passenger than airplanes. So, who knows; we checked what it would take to travel from Oslo to Stockholm; three to four hours! And it would be a renaissance of future climate-friendly air transport. At least that was what ChatGPT told us. But that is maybe a reminder that ChatGPT doesn't have all the answers.

Thank you for arranging this, and thank you for making today a very exciting event. Thank you very much.

 

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