• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package August 7, 2022
Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe August 2, 2022
Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal August 2, 2022
Coastal GasLink Cost Skyrockets 70% to $11.2B August 2, 2022
Ottawa Releases Regulatory ‘Frame’ for Net-Zero Grid by 2035 August 2, 2022
Next
Prev

Climate Dominates Campaign, Green Vote Falls Short as Norway Elects Centre-Left Coalition

September 14, 2021
Reading time: 2 minutes

Incoming Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre/Wikimedia Commons

Incoming Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre/Wikimedia Commons

1
SHARES
 

Voters in Norway elected a new government, environmental parties drew less popular support than expected, but a new centre-left coalition was still expected to usher in tighter controls on oil and gas exploration after an election Monday that was largely dominated by public fears about the climate emergency.

“The vote came at the end of a tumultuous summer in Europe, marked by scorching temperatures and flooding in many countries,” the New York Times reports. “Once a distant prospect for many Norwegians, global warming became a more tangible reality that all political parties in the wealthy Nordic nation of 5.3 million could no longer ignore.”

The result was an election campaign focused on the “growing contradictions between the country’s environmental aspirations and its dependence on its vast oil and gas reserves,” the Times adds.

In the end, 26% of the vote went to the Labour Party, helmed by ex-foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre. His coalition government is expected to include the Center Party, as well as “a smaller left-wing party that has demanded a more aggressive response to tackle climate change, and that could make any coalition deeply divided over fossil fuels and taxes,” the news story states.

Last month’s dire science assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, combined with deadly floods in Germany and Belgium and wildfires in Greece and Italy, had brought the climate emergency to the forefront and elevated Norway’s Green Party to third place in election polling.

Another turning point was the 1.5°C pathways report released in May by the International Energy Agency. It called for an immediate end to new fossil exploration and projected deep reductions in demand—by 75% for oil and 55% for natural gas—by 2050. Between the two blockbuster reports, “climate wasn’t necessarily supposed to be such a central issue, and all of a sudden, it was,” said climate and oil policy researcher Bard Lahn of Oslo’s Center for International Climate Research.

But in the end, “smaller Norwegian parties with the most aggressive stance toward fossil fuels fared less well than expected Monday,” the Times says. “Several parties shared a pro-climate platform but differed on other issues, scattering green votes and keeping the parties under 8%,” the threshold for seats in parliament. That resulted raised “questions about Norway’s readiness to take a hard look at its economic dependence on fossil fuels.”

In a country where 70% of new vehicle sales are electric and an already ambitious carbon tax is set to triple by 2030, scientists say the environmental impacts of fossil fuel production still dwarf the benefits of climate action.

“Norway tries hard to act as a pro-nature, pro-diversity society, but our main source of wealth comes from oil and fossil fuels,” University of Oslo social anthropology professor Thomas Hylland Eriksen told the Times. “That tension became increasingly visible with this climate election.”



in Climate & Society, Ending Emissions, Energy Politics, Fossil Fuels, Jurisdictions, Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion, Oil & Gas, UK & Europe

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

openthegovernment.org
United States

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package

August 8, 2022
280
jasonwoodhead23/flickr
Energy Politics

Fossils Dismiss Federal Emissions Cap as ‘Aggressive’, ‘Unrealistic’

August 8, 2022
135
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France
Nuclear

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
307

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Joseph Brent/Flickr

Green Hydrogen Will Cost Less than Fossil-Fuelled ‘Blue’, Shell CEO Admits

August 7, 2022
590
openthegovernment.org

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package

August 8, 2022
280
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
307
David Wilson/wikimedia commons

U.S. State Treasurers Use Public Office to Thwart Climate Action, Investigation Finds

August 7, 2022
133
/MaxPixels

‘Substantial Damage’, No Injuries as Freight Train Hits Wind Turbine Blade

May 25, 2022
5.6k
Green Energy Futures/flickr

Solar Shingle Buying Guide Lays Out Options for Curious Homeowners

August 7, 2022
146

Recent Posts

jasonwoodhead23/flickr

Fossils Dismiss Federal Emissions Cap as ‘Aggressive’, ‘Unrealistic’

August 8, 2022
135
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Canadians Share Stories of Fear, Vulnerability from 2021 Heat Dome

August 7, 2022
68
Brian Jeffery Beggerly/Wikimedia Commons

China’s Latest Renewables Plan Could Bridge Global 1.5°C Gap, Expert Says

August 9, 2022
139
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Pacific Region/Wikimedia Commons

Australia Bans New Coal Mine to Protect Great Barrier Reef, Faces Call for Full Moratorium

August 7, 2022
78
The Come Up Show/flickr

Celebrities, Influencers See Backlash for Private Jet Emissions

August 7, 2022
63
alexxxis/Pixabay

Cambridge University to Rename BP Institute Following Student Backlash

August 7, 2022
48
Next Post
Adam Jones/Flickr

BREAKING: Trans Mountain Loses 16th Insurer as Industry Giant Chubb Walks Away

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}