(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
On Tuesday, there was a break in the ongoing climate negotiations between the government parties and the opposition in the Storting. This means that any climate change settlement will be postponed until the New Year. Are you, as the mayor of the climate report and the SV politician, happy with the process so far?
- It's actually me. The two most important things have come out in the media, and they are trying to talk the opposition down because they want to present it as if there is no basis for a settlement, and that we have not moved a meter. But that we are now going to resume the discussion on the green certificates, and that we are willing to spend three billion a year on rainforest conservation, are actually solid things. Just ask the environmental movement. They are very excited about this.
Left leader Lars Sponheim has called the negotiations "tolling negotiations" and compares the government's climate policy with the Progress Party?
- Sponheim said in the election campaign that the climate issue is bigger than the Liberal Party. I therefore expect a more constructive attitude from that edge. In addition, there is a gas power plant on Melkøya and pumps out one million tonnes of CO2 a year. There is respect from the Liberal Party for resigning from the gas power issue in their time, but they can not live on it forever. The previous government did a number of things that we have now got our hands on, including the Melkøya scandal and Skarv, which is now being expanded and which will increase Norwegian emissions by one percent. Both parts of the Liberal Party could be properly addressed when they were in government, but there the Conservatives sat across. That's why I perceive Sponheims
play most as a diversion maneuver from the Left.
Some believe that the SV has lost credibility in the climate issue because you have had to devote yourself too much in government. Has SV lost face as a green party?
-For that, I just want to say that those who try to reduce this to a debate about SV, shoot completely over goal. There is nothing as stupid as reducing such an important issue to a matter of honor for a party sitting in a coalition government. Then you do not move on. Those who are concerned with the case should talk about the case, not about SV. Having said that, it is true that if SV and Venstre, against all odds, had been in government alone, and had a clear majority, climate policy would have looked different. But that's not the case. SV got 8,8 percent with us in, and we have actually gotten through to take big domestic cuts, even though we could imagine cutting even more.
Would you say that the opposition is now playing a cynical game for the gallery in climate policy?
- I think they are genuinely concerned about the environmental issue, so in that sense I do not want to say that it is just a game. But you may become a little short-sighted when you walk and step in the Storting all the time. If we ask those who are in Bali now, there is little understanding of what has happened in the domestic negotiations. Over there, most people understand the importance of the rainforest billions. I would like to see Per Kristian Foss put three billion a year on the table for this when he was Minister of Finance. For four years, I hardly think he took the word climate in his mouth. While now we have a finance minister who has really taken his ministry of sustainability seriously and who is trying to mobilize other countries' finance ministers to do what the UN climate panel is calling for, namely to get it to concern the whole of society.
The leader of the energy and environment committee in the Storting, Gunnar Kvassheim (V), told Ny Tid that the Labor Party is the foremost sink in Norwegian climate policy together with Frp. Do you share his opinion?
- No. FRP is in a completely separate division. Labor is for Kyoto, they do not deny that climate change is man-made, and they are concerned that we should take responsibility. Admittedly, the Labor Party is a large party, which accommodates a lot of different things, including an industrial tradition that they share with the Conservatives. In oil policy, the Labor Party has been one of several parties that have stood for a very oil-friendly line that has not wanted to issue orders to the companies and has not wanted to slow down. But things are changing. In recent years, many have realized that the climate challenge is not only a problem, but also an opportunity to create new jobs. The magazine Arbeidsliv i Norden has estimated that there may be 425.000 new jobs in the Nordic region within renewable energy. This could be the same industrial adventure that oil has been. There, we and the Liberal Party have been at the forefront all the way, and more are now coming after. So that Labor is the biggest sink, it's nonsense. They have come a long way, even though they still have a long way to go.
All in all: Do you think the domestic quarrel is a bit small and insignificant, given the negotiations in Bali?
- Yes, in a way I think so. When we hear from Bali what reactions have come to the rainforest billions: People almost do not think it is true. This could affect the whole dynamic in Bali. Then it is clear that it will be very small when there is almost a semantic discussion here at home. I think it's ridiculous that someone is trying to portray it as just allocating the money without there being systems to deal with it actually coming out. People need to have confidence that the money is being spent properly. A common practice for a government would be to say that we should consider allocating the money when a system has been put in place and 19 other countries have agreed to contribute the same amount. On the other hand, we have said we are willing to take the lead, and in that way speed up the others, so that we can more easily get the mechanisms in place. We are willing to spend money to get the mechanisms in place. And with us now putting money on the table, other countries are getting on the field more easily as well. Exactly this question, I think it would have suited the opposition to show a slightly prouder attitude on behalf of Norway, on behalf of what they themselves have helped to achieve, but also on behalf of environmental organizations, including the Rainforest Fund, which has played a super important role to
make this happen.
