Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson (born 28 March 1977) is a member of parliament (Alþingi) in Iceland. He served as Minister of Social Affairs and the Labour Market from 28 November 2021 to 17 October 2024. He represents the Left-Green Movement. He was Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources from 30 November 2017 to 28 November 2021. He has also served as the CEO of Landvernd, the largest nature conservation and environmental NGO in Iceland, from 2011 to 2017.[1] In 2017 he became the first openly gay man to become an Icelandic Minister.[2] From April to October 2024 he served as the chair of the Left-Green Movement.
Education and career
Guðmundur was raised on a farm. His intention was to be a sheep farmer. When he went to a secondary school in Akureyri he started acting and was interested in becoming an actor, but found out that he didn’t sing well enough. After graduation he went to the Reykjavik household school and then travelled to Germany, where he stayed in a monastery for a few months. He found out eventually that his faith was not strong enough to be a monk.[3]
Guðmundur holds a BSc degree in biology from the University of Iceland and a master's degree in environmental science from Yale University.[4] He has worked with research in ecology and environmental studies at the University of Iceland and at The Soil Conservation Service of Iceland. He then worked at The Institute of Freshwater Fisheries in Hólar in Hjaltadalur.[5] Since 2006 he has been a part-time teacher at the University of Iceland, the Agricultural University of Iceland and the University Center of the Westfjords.[6] He has also worked as a ranger in Þingvellir National Park and Vatnajökull National Park.
He was one of the founders of The Icelandic Association of Environmentalists and was the first chairman from 2007 to 2010. In 2011 he became the CEO of Landvernd, an Icelandic environment association. He served as CEO of Landvernd for 6 years.[7]
