Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson (; born 19 December 1967) is an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Energy and Climate from 2021 to 2024 and previously minister of foreign affairs from 2017 to 2021.

Early life and education

Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson graduated with a BA degree in Political Sciences from the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

in 1996.

Political career

Guðlaugur started his involvement in the Independence party in 1987 when he was elected on the board of the National Youth Organisation of the Independence Party in which he served until 1997 of which he was vice chairman 1989–1993 and chairman 1993–1997. He was then elected on the

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

City Council in 1998 and sat two four-year terms there. He sat on the parliamentary committee on welfare issues 2003–2006, the committee on fisheries 2003–2007, and the committee on the environment 2003–2007 (chairman 2004–2007). He has been a member of the

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

(Iceland's parliament) for the Independence Party since 2003 and served as the

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

from 24 May 2007 to 1 February 2009. Guðlaugur represented Reykjavík North 2003–2009, then switched to Reykjavík South for the 2009 elections before returning to Reykjavík North in 2013, where he has topped the party list for the last three elections. In the party

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

in 2006 he defeated then Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs

Björn Bjarnason Björn Bjarnason (born 14 November 1944) is an Icelandic politician. His father was Bjarni Benediktsson (born 1908), Bjarni Benediktsson, Prime Minister of Iceland, Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs and Mayor of Reykjavík. Matric ...

for the top spot in Reykjavík North. He has served as

Minister for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

since 11 January 2017. Guðlaugur opposes Icelandic membership of the European Union. He is strongly supportive of Iceland's membership of the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...

, describing the benefits as substantial.

Personal life

He is married and has four children.

References

External links

Early life and education

Political career

Personal life

See also

References

External links