NORWAY:The Norwegian government has reached an agreement with three opposition parties to bring forward its goal to be "carbon neutral" to 2030 from an earlier target of 2050.
The Labour-led government said last year that Norway would aim to cut net emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) to nil by 2050 by reducing emissions at home and investing abroad in environmental projects that will give Norway CO2 credits.
The parties agreed to set the more ambitious target partly because reductions of CO2 attributable to forest growth will also be taken into account. Forests act as a sink for CO2, the main greenhouse gas widely blamed by scientists for causing global warming.
"The parties now think it is realistic to assume reductions in Norwegian climate gas emissions of 15-17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents by 2020 when forests are included," the government said. The initial target was for reductions of 13-16 million tonnes. Achieving the target will require cutting total emissions by two-thirds domestically, it said.
Under the deal a "significant sum" of money will be earmarked for investment in renewable energy, mass transport and measures to reduce emissions from the transport sector, while tax on diesel fuel and petrol will rise. "Both carrot and stick will be used to promote more environmentally friendly behaviour and to reduce climate gas emissions," the centre-left coalition said.
Finance minister Kristin Halvorsen of the Socialist Left party said the policy would lead to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions both in Norway and abroad.
"The agreement gives Norway a far-sighted climate policy that can stand independently of shifting governments," said prime minister Jens Stoltenberg. Norway's policy on cutting emissions is the world's most ambitious, he said, likening the challenge of combating climate change to a "moon landing" for the 21st century.
Norway, with a population of just 4.7 million, is the world's fifth-biggest exporter of oil and western Europe's biggest exporter of natural gas. Endowed with rivers and waterfalls, it gets almost all its electricity from hydroelectric stations.