Norway’s oil industry has been right behind REDD from the start

Eleven years ago, almost to the day, the government of Norway put out a press release: “Norway is prepared to increase its support for efforts to prevent deforestation in developing countries to about three billion kroner a year.” That’s about US$550 million per year.

On 10 December 2007, Norway’s strategy to prevent deforestation was presented at a meeting in Oslo. Present were politicians from the Conservative Party, the Christian Democratic Party and the Liberals.

Three people presented the strategy: Jens Stoltenberg, Erik Solheim, and Åslaug Haga. Stoltenberg was Norway’s prime minister. Solheim was Minister of the Environment and International Development.

And Haga was Minister of Petroleum and Energy.

The Minister of Petroleum and Energy

That’s worth repeating. One of the three people presenting Norway’s strategy to prevent deforestation was the Minister of Petroleum and Energy.

From the very beginning then, Norway’s massively polluting oil industry was behind Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy owns two-thirds of the shares in Norway’s multinational oil and gas company, Equinor (previously called Statoil and StatoilHydro).

Equinor announced in November 2018 that it planned to “invest in natural climate solutions in line with the UNFCCC REDD+ framework”.

That’s been the oil industry’s plan all along. Continue drilling, continue polluting. And use REDD to greenwash the ensuing climate chaos.

Published under: Stoltenberg’s 2nd Government
Publisher Office of the Prime Minister

Three billion kroner towards efforts to prevent deforestation

Press release | Date: 2007-12-10 | No: 160-07

-Norway is prepared to increase its support for efforts to prevent deforestation in developing countries to about three billion kroner a year. This is a way of achieving large cuts in greenhouse gas emissions quickly and at low cost, said Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg today when he presented Norway’s strategy for combating deforestation in developing countries.

Norway’s contribution to the efforts against deforestation will be presented at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali.

The Prime Minister, together with Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim and Minister of Petroleum and Energy Åslaug Haga, presented the strategy today at a meeting with the parliamentary leaders of the Conservative Party, the Christian Democratic Party and the Liberals.

– Early action to prevent global warming is much more effective than action at a later stage. Steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are therefore urgently required, said Mr Stoltenberg.

– An initiative in this area in the next few years can bring about substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions while the world is seeking to put in place a new, more comprehensive agreement on climate change, explained Mr Solheim.

At present, deforestation in developing countries is releasing carbon dioxide corresponding to about 20% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing deforestation is of crucial importance not only in relation to climate change, but also in order to maintain biodiversity and safeguard people’s livelihoods.

Norway advocates the inclusion of commitments to reduce emissions from deforestation in developing countries in a global climate change regime for the period after 2012. This will be important as a means of achieving the target Norway has adopted, which is to limit the average rise in global temperature to no more than 2°C. Norway will work towards agreement on such a regime in Copenhagen in 2009.

Norway is prepared to increase its support to about three billion kroner a year on condition that satisfactory mechanisms, for example under the UN or the World Bank, are established for certification and for handling large transfers of funding for forest-related measures. In the start-up phase, some resources will therefore need to be used to develop rules and monitoring and control arrangements, for example through demonstration and pilot projects.

Norway is heading the work of developing effective funding and certification systems for measures to prevent deforestation in developing countries, which is being continued during the Bali conference. Norway is prepared to play a part in pilot projects to develop such systems from 2008.

The increase in Norway’s support for efforts to prevent deforestation and other climate-related measures in developing countries will not take place at the expense of Norway’s current poverty reduction efforts, but will be funded within the overall framework for Norwegian development cooperation, which is being expanded.

Norway has already decided to strengthen its Kyoto commitment, and Norwegian support for efforts to prevent deforestation in developing countries will come in addition to this. Emissions from deforestation are not currently regulated under the Climate Change Convention or the Kyoto Protocol. Nor can projects to prevent deforestation be used to acquire emission credits under the Clean Development Mechanism.