Around 20 rural communities around Norway were being branded as petty and divisive heading into the weekend, because of their announced plans to boycott the country’s major annual television fundraiser on Sunday. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is the organization selected to receive funds raised to help rid the seas of plastics, but several rural politicians […]
Oslo on hold for carbon capture
September 21, 2020
They’re billing it as “the biggest climate project in Norwegian industry ever,” but the government’s long-awaited carbon capture, transport and storage plan could have been even bigger. Carbon emissions may now only be captured at the Norcem cement plant near Porsgrunn, meaning carbon capture at the Fortum recycling plant in Oslo will have to wait for […]
40 arrested after climate, oil protests
September 21, 2020
Climate activists were out early in Oslo on Monday morning, to demonstrate against Norway’s pro-oil policies and the government’s failure to declare a climate crisis. By midday, police had arrested around 40 people taking part in various demonstrations around the city. The demonstrations came just as another oil company active on Norway’s continental shelf, Wintershall […]
Beavers move from the forest into town
July 19, 2020
After nearly becoming extinct in the late 1800s, Norway’s beaver population is now estimated to number more than 70,000. After making their mark in local forests around Oslo, some have even started moving into town, startling visitors to the Frogner Park and even residents of the city’s trendy Grünerløkka neighbourhood. They’ve long been altering the […]
Illegal emissions at Equinor gas plant
July 17, 2020
State oil company Equinor’s large natural gas plant at Melkøya outside Hammerfest has reported illegal emissions and pollution every year for the past 10 years. There haven’t been any punitive consequences, however, apart from official reminders that compliance is expected. Newspaper Finnmark Dagblad reported on the illegal emissions last weekend, and the national media has […]
Norway may finally meet climate goals
June 23, 2020
Carbon emissions in Norway declined 3.4 percent last year, according to new updated numbers from state statistics bureau SSB. Emissions totalling 50.3 million tons were the lowest in 27 years and now officials think Norway may meet its climate goals for 2020. “These are encouraging numbers and show that the government climate policies are working,” […]
Greenpeace hails Oil Fund exclusions
May 13, 2020
Environmental organization Greenpeace is hailing Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, which was built up on oil revenues, for excluding four oil companies because their emissions are too high. All four extract oil from controversial tar/oil sands projects. Norway’s own state oil company Statoil (now Equinor) was also active in oil sands projects in Alberta, Canada until […]
Oslo Fjord ailing as birds die, fish gone
May 4, 2020
Something is seriously wrong with the Oslo Fjord and no one seems to fully understand why. Both fish and mussels have been disappearing, while the fjord’s characteristic seabirds known as ærfugl (common eider) have been found dead from Agder in the south to Østfold farther north. Newspaper Dagsavisen has reported that the dead birds are […]
Plastic pellet spill tied to container ship
April 30, 2020
Weeks after millions of small white plastic pellets started washing up on the shoreline of the Oslo Fjord, the source of the spill has likely been identified: a container on board a ship that sprung a leak. “We view it as highly probable that a damaged container spilled the pellets during a voyage,” Ole Sævild […]
Svalbard tourism chills scientists
March 5, 2020
Growing numbers of tourists are leaving a worrisome footprint on Svalbard’s fragile environment, according to the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA). In a new study, NINA proposes tougher regulation of tourism in the Arctic archipelago and of the cruise industry in particular. “The increasing tourism has clear negative effects,” NINA scientist Hogne Øian told […]
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