The Prime minister visited the Seed Vault in Svalbard

Together with representatives from the UN Sustainability Goals Group, Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H) visited the Seed vault in Svalbard on Tuesday afternoon.

The vault will ensure food supply for future generations.

The Prime Minister visited the Seed Vault on the occasion of a large conference where representatives of around 30 gene banks from around the world deposited seed samples for the global vault, which is already the world’s largest with more than one million samples. The deposit is the largest since the vault opened in 2008.

The seed vault has been established to allow gene banks around the world to keep a backup of their seed collection in an area of permafrost. The mountain slopes for the seed storage maintain a natural temperature of between 3 and 6 minus degrees, and the low temperature dampens the development of the seeds and preserves them for years.

UN delegation on tour
Also in place at Svalbard were several members of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Group, including Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who heads the group with Solberg.

In addition to seed deposits, Solberg on Tuesday met people who were affected by the landslide that occurred at the Sugar Summit in 2015.

On Wednesday, Solberg will take the UN group on a boat trip on Svalbard. The aim of the trip is to take a closer look at the rapid climate change on the archipelago.

Visit after Russian criticism
The Prime Minister’s Svalbard visit takes place a few days after the Foreign Ministry in Russia accused Norway of violating the terms of the Svalbard Treaty.

The Russians believe that Norway places too strong restrictions on Russian business activity and scientific activities on the archipelago.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Olaug Bollestad (KrF), is also on the Svalbard trip on the occasion of the seed depositions.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today