If every country was like Norway, a small but rich Nordic country, and every environment minister was like Erik Solheim, our global greenhouse gas emissions might have already been reduced drastically.
Unfortunately, we have only one Norway on our planet.
Norway is on the one hand a major producer of fossil fuels like oil, a bad source of energy, and on the other it’s a leading player in curbing greenhouse gas emissions through positive use its oil money and advanced green technology. It is ready to go any lengths to achieve its ambitious climate change targets.
Solheim, a leftist leader, is really transforming Norway from an oil producer into becoming a key player in tackling global climate change issues.
Norway’s climate change policy is based on the target of limiting the average rise in global temperature to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial level.
“We are like a paradox. On one hand, we are proud to say that we are an environmentally friendly nation and want to be in the forefront of the environmental campaign. On the other hand, we are the fifth biggest oil exporter,” Norwegian minister for Environment and International Development Solheim told Indonesian journalists, including from The Jakarta Post, recently in Oslo.
Norway wants to cooperate with Indonesia, one of the world’s biggest emitters of carbon greenhouse emissions, and other countries, on climate change issues.
“Norway wants to work with the European Union, the United States, China, India and Indonesia. We are more than willing to cooperate with others. That’s the starting point,” Solheim, the leader of the Norway’s Socialist Left Party, said.
In order to help Indonesia and other countries working on the UN Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) initiative, Norway launched a comprehensive climate and forest initiative in Bali during the UN climate change conference there in 2007, Solheim said.
REDD is a collaborative UN initiative that aims to provide compensation to participating countries which reduce their carbon emissions by stopping and reversing deforestation and land degradation.
“The UN-REDD is 100 percent financed by Norway. We have decided to make available on an annual basis 3 billion Norwegian kroner (NOK), which is approximately US$600 million, for the conservation and sustainable use of rainforests,” Solheim said.
Another important feature of Norwegian climate policy is carbon capture and storage (CCS), a global climate mitigation measure.
“Carbon capture and storage is the most advanced [technology] in the world,” Solheim proudly said.
Although CCS is safe and feasible, it is extremely expensive.
“We are now focusing on bringing down the costs of this technology,” Solheim said.
A high level Indonesian delegation attended an international conference on CCS in Bergen, Norway, in May this year.
For next year, the Norwegian government is planning to allocate NOK 2.1 billion, an increase of NOK 650 million from 2009, in efforts to prevent deforestation in poor countries.
In Norway, about 70 percent of emissions are either covered by the emissions trading scheme or a CO2 tax.
Surprisingly, Norway, a fjord-fringed country of 4.8 million people, depends heavily on renewable energy rather than its oil and gas. Most of its oil and gas is exported to the US and Europe. More than 80 percent of its own energy comes from hydroelectricity.
Both Indonesia and Norway agreed in April 2009 to work closely together in the field of renewable energy.
Norway has set an ambitious target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by2020, aiming to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Carbon neutrality means when a country’s emissions from burning fossil fuels would be totally offset by its carbon reduction policies and mechanisms.
As a country strongly committed to the climate change, Norway is ready to do more if its actions help a global climate deal to be reached in Copenhagen next month
“I won’t rule out … that we can open up to going beyond 30 percent if it contributes to reaching an agreement [in Copenhagen],” Norway’s popular Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told the NRK Radio recently.
Even on the carbon neutrality target, Norway is ready to go for it by 2030 if there is an agreement to do so in Copenhagen.
When asked about what should done in order to achieve a new global post-Kyoto climate regime, Solheim said that the major powers, especially the US, must provide leadership in Copenhagen.
“The European Union and the US must take the lead in setting ambitious targets. Without the US leadership, we will not have an effective climate deal,” Solheim said.
He considers the Copenhagen summit as a major step in a long journey, but not the end of the journey.
“We may see a partial success in Copenhagen. Nobody is expecting a complete success. That’s impossible, Solheim said.
Though the Copenhagen meeting may not solve all the problems, Solheim added, it will be positive.
“It will not be the last and final global conference on climate change. But it will be a major step forward,” Solheim said.
The success of the conference in Copenhagen, according to Solheim, will depend upon Obama’s leadership, and that the developed world adopts ambitious targets and is willing to provide money to developing nations to do likewise, along with a strong commitment from emerging markets like China, India and Indonesia.
In Norway, about 70 percent of emissions are either covered by the emissions trading scheme or a CO2 tax.
Source: The Jakarta Post
