National parks and biodiversity
The country boasts a wide range of protected areas, including 47 national parks. Equipped with spartan accommodation in some cases, and marked trails in others, these parks combine the preservation of ecosystems with a warm welcome for hikers. These include Folgefonna National Park, with its mountain ecosystems and glaciers; Hardangervidda, home to reindeer herds; Jotunheimen, popular with hikers; Jostedalsbreen, which protects Europe's largest continental glacier; Stabbursdalen, for the world's most northerly pine forest; and Færder Marine Park. In Svalbard, the following national parks have been designated Ramsar sites for their outstanding wetlands: Sør-Spitsbergen and Forlandet.
The "right of access to nature"(allemannsrett) allows everyone in Norway to move freely in nature, and to pick berries and mushrooms. This customary right, enshrined in a 1957 law, reflects an ancestral attachment to nature that transcends the notion of private property and could be likened to the idea of "common good". The Norwegian connection to nature is also expressed through the concept of friluftsliv, a term coined by the writer Henrik Ibsen, which today reflects an art of living based on a reconnection with nature and the pleasures of the great outdoors.
The country is, however, concerned by land-use change, i.e. the artificialization of land, which is one of the factors contributing to the erosion of biodiversity. However, in 2021, Norway's Supreme Court ruled against the construction of a wind farm on part of the Saami community's reindeer pastures, under a UN covenant on the rights of indigenous peoples.
Other threats to biodiversity include whaling, still practised in the country and condemned by NGOs and scientists. Intensive salmon farming (for which Norway is the world's leading producer and exporter) is also a cause for concern, due to its impact on ecosystems. Norwegian companies are relocating their production to South America, shifting the problem to other parts of the world. A recent study has shown that the fish orthoreovirus, a virus infecting farmed salmon in Norway and transmitted to wild Atlantic fish, has spread as far as the Pacific.
Towards the ecological transition
Norway is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. It is basing its ecological transition on a 100% electric vehicle fleet by 2025, with numerous tax incentives and advantages. Hydropower plants provide over 95% of the country's electricity consumption, and oil-fired heating has been banned since 2020. Norway has also implemented a policy aimed at "zero deforestation", by protecting its forests in situ and prohibiting the use of companies that contribute to deforestation in its public procurement contracts. The country is also developing energy efficiency programs for buildings. Oslo has virtually eliminated car traffic from its city center, in favor of active modes of transport. The Norwegian capital is developing urban agriculture and eco-neighborhoods, such as Vulkan in Oslo, which is aiming for energy autonomy. All of these initiatives rank Norway among the most advanced countries in terms of ecological transition. But when exportedCO2 emissions are taken into account, Norway is relegated to 128th place.
the "boreal illusion" in ecological matters
Norway's per capitaCO2 emissions are 8 tonnes per year, compared with a carbon-neutral target of 2 tonnes. Norway is Europe's leading exporter of hydrocarbons and the world's third largest exporter of natural gas. These figures represent a financial windfall (17% of the country's GDP) and major sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the country does not seem ready to give up these activities. Proof of this is the Supreme Court's 2021 ruling on the extension of oil drilling in the Arctic. But the edifice seems to be cracking as the population's ecological awareness grows and ecological issues are brought before the courts. Progress has been made, however, with the abandonment in 2019 of a drilling project in the Lofoten archipelago and the commitment of Norway's sovereign wealth fund to divest from fossil fuels. The parliamentary elections in September 2021 brought a left-wing coalition to power, which could move the country towards a gradual exit from the oil economy.
And in the meantime, the climate is warming up
Climate change is already palpable in the region. It is altering the migratory routes of certain animals, and primarily affecting indigenous populations, who have the lowest environmental impact in the region. The melting of permafrost - ground that is permanently frozen for at least two years at a time - is like a health and climate bomb in the Arctic. It could release large quantities of carbon and methane, as well as viruses hitherto frozen in the ice. The Svalbard seed bank (Global Seed Vault) has been in operation since 2008, with the aim of preserving humanity's seed heritage. Dubbed the "apocalypse vault" by its detractors, it is directly threatened by the melting permafrost, with water seepage occurring in 2017. Financed by a public/private partnership, it raises questions about the commodification of life. It also raises questions about the relevance of the system, since the seeds, preserved in the cold and not regenerated in the soil, cannot co-evolve with the environment. The site could thus symbolize the obsolescence of a model based on the exploitation of natural resources, with no respect for planetary limits and the balance of living organisms.
