Norwegian petroleum policy in a changing climate

Abstract

The report provides an up-to-date account of the debates about how Norway can best handle its paradoxical position between oil dependence and climate leadership ambitions. Historically, political actors have sought to reconcile Norway's goals of climate leadership and petroleum production by separating climate and petroleum policymaking into separate domains. Over the last ten years, however, this separation has increasingly been challenged, leading to a marked increase in political controversy around the future of the Norwegian oil and gas industry. The report gives an overview of the historical background for Norwegian petroleum and climate policy, and details more recent changes in public attitudes, political fault lines, and more specific policy changes currently under discussion. By focusing on the case of Norway, the report aims to inform broader debates about the relationship between fossil fuel extraction and climate policy, as this relationship is attracting increasing attention from climate policy analysts and policymakers internationally. ; publishedVersion