At the invitation of Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, former President of Iceland, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew delivered the keynote address to the Arctic Circle Assembly before a gathering of 2,000 participants from governments, corporations, universities and ecological institutions. The Ecumenical Patriarch spoke on the importance and influence of religion on raising awareness on the ecological crisis of our time, underlining that spiritual leaders, scientists and politicians cannot avoid engaging in dialogue with one another on climate change. “In order to change what we see,” His All-Holiness declared, “we have to change how we see it. We have to change how we perceive and treat the world, how we use our knowledge and skills to sustain and enhance it.” Earlier this morning, the Ecumenical Patriarch was received for a private conversation at the Harpa conference and concert hall with the Bjarni Benediktsson, prime minister of Iceland.