Kirti Vardhan Singh bent down in the cool Icelandic air, hands in the soil, planting a young English Oak sapling by the quiet waters of Lake Hvaleyrarvatn. The moment, simple and symbolic, marked a growing green partnership between two nations far apart in geography but aligned in vision: India and Iceland. In Reykjavik this week, Singh, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs and Environment, met with Iceland’s Minister for the Environment, Energy and Climate, Johann Pall Johannsson, to explore how two very different countries can power the future with clean energy.
The meeting wasn’t just diplomatic talk. It came with a shared urgency. Climate change doesn’t care about borders, and both nations see clean energy as a bridge to a safer planet. India, home to over 1.4 billion people and rising fast, is investing heavily in renewable energy to meet its growing power needs without adding to the world’s carbon burden. Iceland, a volcanic island nation with nearly 100% of its electricity from renewable sources, is a living example of what’s possible when a country harnesses its natural gifts—like geothermal heat from deep within the Earth.
Singh visited the Hellisheidi Power Plant, one of the world’s largest and most advanced geothermal facilities. There, steam from underground volcanic activity spins turbines to generate electricity and heat homes—all without burning fossil fuels. The plant also captures carbon dioxide and turns it into stone underground, a rare and promising technology. For India, which is exploring its own geothermal potential in regions like Ladakh, the visit offered real lessons in clean energy innovation.
The tree Singh planted ties into India’s ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ (One Tree in Mother’s Name) campaign, which has already inspired millions of Indians to plant trees in honor of their mothers. It’s a grassroots movement turning personal love into environmental action. By planting in Iceland, Singh sent a message: protecting nature is a global duty, not a national one.
India also used the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik to reaffirm its role as a science-driven voice in Arctic issues. Though far from the polar region, India operates research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic and believes that understanding climate change at the poles is key to protecting the planet.
This week’s talks didn’t end with agreements on paper, but with seeds in the ground and ideas in motion. As clean energy becomes the backbone of global climate action, partnerships like the one between India and Iceland show that even small steps—like a single sapling or a shared insight at a power plant—can grow into something much larger.