Bjork launches war on heavy industry

The Icelandic singer, known for offbeat tunes such as It’s Oh So Quiet, is releasing a single featuring Radiohead frontman and environmental campaigner Thom Yorke to raise money for her Natura campaign.

It aims to highlight the threat that industry, such as the aluminium smelting plants that are springing up across the country, could pose to the natural environment.

Bjork also hopes to identify and promote environmentally friendly businesses that the country could focus on instead, especially in the wake of the collapse of its banking system.

“I feel that now we need to be a little more humble,” she said. “We cannot be so arrogant and just run around and talk, talk, talk.”

She added: “We need to be sustainable – not only environmentally and economically, but also morally.”

Three aluminium smelting plants are already operational in Iceland and another three are in the pipeline.

They have provoked opposition from some of the country’s inhabitants who fear the plants’ massive energy needs will lead to the creation of a new network of power stations.

Watch Bjork talk about her Natura campaign below.

Kate Martin