I think the main motivation for doing it in Svalbard is the seed vault, which benefits from the cold, dry environment in the permafrost. And sure, that the remote location lends its self to Foundation-like restore-civilization-after-the-dark-age scenarios, but it works fine for shorter-term back up too. If there's a blight that wipes out corn or something we can use the seed vault to replant. (Assuming we can cure the blight... cf the American Chestnut.)