The Norweigan government has increasingly opened up the Barents Sea for oil drilling. Photo: © V. Belov / Shutterstock.com

Norwegian NGOs demand: "No new oil licences"

Norway is the fourteenth-largest global producer of oil and the second-largest of gas. Almost all of it is sold to other countries, mostly to the EU and China. As shown by Oil Change International ¹ Norway is the seventh-largest exporter of greenhouse gases – and the third largest per per capita (only beaten by Qatar and Kuwait). Despite the small population, Norway is a key contributor in keeping the world addicted to fossil fuels.

The industry is well established in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea, and therefore does not anticipate any big new discoveries in these areas, so it is looking for new areas to exploit. After roughly 20 years of battle, the environmental movement has been successful in keeping the Lofoten islands oil-free. But partly as a compensation for not opening up Lofoten, the government has increasingly opened up the Barents Sea for oil drilling – even in the particularly vulnerable marginal ice zone ². Future development of the Norwegian petroleum industry will have to extend even further into the Arctic, where nature is as invaluable as it is vulnerable; where the risk of accidents are higher, and the costs too.

Anti-fossil fuels campaigns in Norway have traditionally centred around protecting especially vulnerable areas, such as the Lofoten islands and the marginal ice zone. The “nature argument” is still important in the debate regarding arctic oil, but more than ever Norwegian NGOs argue it is time to stop all further exploration for new petroleum out of concern for the climate. In addition to “no new oil licences” we are demanding that the government starts a managed winding down of existing production, and a just transition for the hundreds of thousands who work in or are connected to the industry today. These are the main demands of WWF Norway, Friends of the Earth Norway, Young Friends of the Earth Norway and Greenpeace Norway, who collaborate closely.

Andreas Randøy

¹ http://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2017/08/The-Skys-Limit-Norway-1.pdf
² https://naturvernforbundet.no/naturvern-i-arktis/norway-allows-oil-drill...

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Norwegian NGOs demand: "No new oil licences"

In this issue

Dependence on fossil gas cause soaring energy bills

Editorial: Promising ruling against the Energy Charter Treaty

NGOs demand a fully renewable energy system by 2040 in Europe

Energy sufficiency: a necessary complement to energy efficiency

Taxing livestock to reduce nitrogen and GHG emissions

Closing the nitrogen cycle with agroecology

Revising LULUCF regulation could be a chance for both climate and biodiversity

A global roadmap to “climate-smart” offshore renewable energy

WHO guidelines are based on science – policy should follow

Time to ban climate-threating advertising

Solutions to reach 1.5°C still available

A different COP – Communities of Practice – encourages offshore cooperation

Methane pledge must be followed by a fossil fuel phase-out target

Air pollution in Africa

EU institutions ignore latest evidence when evaluating health effects

Ocean acidification: the “Black elephant” in the Black Sea?

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