Climate message is shockingly weak

Instead of reinforcing efforts, the government chooses to lean on existing policies and quota purchases -- This is contrary to the Paris Agreement's call for increased ambition.

The Storting must now take responsibility where the government fails, and ensure that Norway sets a national emissions target of 60 percent. Not because targets are the most important thing, but because we need measures to realign the Norwegian economy. The government is betting on an insensible strategy, by allowing other countries to reap the benefits of restructuring.

To cut 60 percent by 2035, Norway's emissions will need to be reduced to approx. 20 million tonnes of CO₂. With today's politics, we end up at 27 million tons — a gap of 7 million tons. Even a weaker target of 55 per cent (23 million tonnes) still implies 4 million tonnes that need to be cut.

It will be quite possible to achieve this, and some of the measures will cost less to implement in Norway than with quota purchases.

The problem is that the climate message does not propose new means to close this gap. The minister said the measures “must be investigated and decided later”. It's like saying you're going to run a marathon but don't intend to train.

Instead, quota purchases are proposed — at a price of up to 21 billion. This is more expensive than a number of domestic measures, and it does not give Norwegian companies any gains in terms of technology development or future jobs. The time to outsource emissions cuts is over — by 2050 Norway should be a low-emission society. Rather than do the job now, the climate minister leaves that job to someone else.

We recommend:

• Adopt a national emissions target of 60 percent
• Prioritize emission cuts with low intervention costs
• Avoid expensive and unnecessary quota purchases
• Increase the CO2 tax further than planned
• Double the climate requirement of the CO₂ compensation scheme (60-100% after 2030)
• Use the tax revenue for social and economic redistribution

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