Norway

Norway Takes First Steps From Extreme Drug War To Sensible Policy

January 18, 2018 By Péter Sárosi, Drogriporter.hu Create! Drugs, Norway, Policy

This was definitely a result of a bottom-up movement. It has had a few strong voices for quite some time, like Arild Knutsen and Thorvald Stoltenberg. Since the beginning of 2016 The Association for Safer Drug Policies has become a strong voice in Norwegian drug policy, and together with the other organisations working for drug policy reform we have been able to shift the centreline of the Norwegian public debate and influence the programs of almost all major political parties, including the party of government. Even though we were certain changes would come at some point, we didn’t expect our Health Minister from the Conservative party to change his view on decriminalisation as fast as he did. It really takes courage to front new drug policies and to take a new stand in a heated debate like this, like he did.

Greenpeace Sues Norway Over Arctic Exploration

November 16, 2017 Tone Sutterud and Elisabeth Ulven, theguardian.com Resist! Arctic, Environment, Greenpeace, Lawsuit, Norway

By Tone Sutterud and Elisabeth Ulven for The Guardian - The Norwegian government is being sued by climate activists over a decision to open up areas of the Arctic Ocean for oil exploration, a move they say endangers the lives of existing and future generations. The plaintiffs, led by environmental organisations Greenpeace and Youth and Nature, will on Tuesday claim that the Norwegian government has violated a constitutional environmental law which guarantees citizens’ rights to a healthy environment. The law, known as Section 112, states: “Everyone has the right to an environment that safeguards their health and to nature where production ability and diversity are preserved. Natural resources must be managed from a long-term and versatile consideration which also upholds this right for future generations.” “We have for years tried to stop the expansion of Norway’s oil extraction, from both local and global considerations,” said Truls Gulowsen, head of Greenpeace Norway. “As far as granting concessions for the Arctic is concerned, not only have our objections been ignored and overrun, but the state has also paid no heed to the guidelines from their own appointed advisers, such as the polar institute and the environment agency, who both recommended that the majority of concessions in this area be turned down.” In fighting the case, Greenpeace is relying on the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which states that to meet the goals set out in the 2015 Paris accord, oil production must be wound down, not escalated.

Sami People Persuade Norway Pension Fund To Divest From Dakota Access

November 6, 2017 Rachel Fixsen, theguardian.com Create! Dakota Access Pipeline, Indigenous Peoples, Norway, Pipelines, Protests

By Rachel Fixsen for The Guardian - In an act of international solidarity between indigenous peoples, the Sami parliament in Norway has persuaded the country’s second largest pension fund to withdraw its money from companies linked to a controversial oil project backed by Donald Trump. The project to build the 1,900km Dakota Access oil pipeline across six US states has prompted massive protests from Native American activists at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. This week, after lobbying by the Sami parliament, Norway’s local authority pension fund KLP announced it would sell of shares worth $58m in companies building the pipeline. Vibeke Larsen, president of the Sami parliament, said the pension fund announced the move when she arrived at a meeting in Oslo to discuss Dakota Access. “We feel a strong solidarity with other indigenous people in other parts of the world, so we are doing our part in Norway by putting pressure on the pension funds,” she told the Guardian. The Sami – formerly known to outsiders as Lapps, a term they reject as derogatory – are an indigenous people living in the Arctic area of Sápmi in the far north of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia’s Kola peninsula. Although they are seen as one people, there are several kinds of Sami, and their rights differ significantly depending on the nation state they live in, according to the United Nations.

Norway Reviews Ethics Of Energy Investments

October 26, 2017 Staff, www.stopetp.org Resist! Environment, Fossil Fuels, Investment, Norway

By Staff of Stop ETP - The Council on Ethics for Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is assessing whether Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) violated the fund’s guidelines for responsible investment, reported Reuters today. Similar reviews in the past has led to divestments, such as the fund’s 2015 decision to sell off more than $8 billion of investments in coal and related industries. As of the end of 2016, the $1 trillion fund has held $248 million of ETP bonds. “This is good news, it shows that our voices are being heard,” said Dallas Goldtooth, Keep It In the Ground Campaigner with Indigenous Environmental Network. “We encourage all investors to question the Human and Indigenous rights impacts of their fossil fuel investments.”

How Norway Avoided Becoming A Fascist State

June 9, 2017 George Lakey, www.yesmagazine.org Educate! Fascism, Norway

By George Lakey for Yes! Magazine - Donald Trump’s obvious affection for authoritarians is prompting worried comparisons of our polarized country to the polarized Germany of the 1920s and ’30s. Since I’m known to see in polarization both crisis and opportunity, my friends are asking me these days about Hitler, the worst-case scenario. I grant the possibility of the United States going fascist, but argue that will not happen if we choose the practical steps taken by progressive Nordic social movements when they faced dangerous polarization. Consider the Norwegians, who experienced extreme polarization at the same time as the Germans did. The Norwegian economic elite organized against striking laborers and produced a polarized country that included both Nazi Brown Shirts goose-stepping in the streets and Norwegian Communists agitating to overthrow capitalism. Many Norwegians were flattered by the Nazi belief that the tall, blue-eyed blonde was the pinnacle of human development. Others vehemently denounced the racism underlying such beliefs. The politician Vidkun Quisling, an admirer of Hitler, organized in 1933 a Nazi party, and its uniformed paramilitary wing sought to provoke violent clashes with leftist students.

In Norway, A Growing Movement Builds An Oil-Free Future

May 1, 2017 Truls Gullowsen, www.theleapblog.org Create! Norway, Oil

By Truls Gullowsen for The Leap - As a Norwegian, I admit to being kind of proud to see Norway at the top of the UN’s latest global happiness index. And the ranking makes sense: We’re blessed with snow, water, and mountains, effective public education and health care systems, plentiful jobs in a well-regulated economy, and a free and open democracy not too hobbled by fake news or Trumpian bluster. However, it seems our beautiful country has become complacent in its happiness. In spite of the climate crisis and the ever-growing need to keep fossil fuels in the ground, last year the Norwegian government—for the first time in 20 years—opened up a new oil frontier in the melting and vulnerable Barents Sea above the Arctic Circle. And last month, the government announced yet another push for Arctic oil, inviting oil companies to bid for 93 new licenses. The happy Norwegian government knows that burning oil causes climate change. They know there’s already more oil in existing fields than we can afford to burn. They know that burning oil melts Arctic ice and fuels extreme weather events like typhoons and droughts, causing immense suffering around the world.

Norway Steps In To Ensure Funding For Global Abortions

February 21, 2017 Staff, www.regjeringen.no Resist! Abortion, Norway

By Staff of Norwegian Government - 'Norway plays a leading role in the work to promote global health, and is one of the largest donors to gender equality and women's health efforts. The Government is increasing its support for family planning and safe abortion by NOK 85 million compared with 2016. We will continue to be a driving force for women's health internationally. At a time when this agenda has come under pressure, a joint effort is particularly important,' said Prime Minister Erna Solberg. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 47 000 women die, and nearly 7 million need medical treatment every year, as a result of unsafe abortions. More than 225 million women would like to have access to contraception, but do not have access today.

Norwegian Youth Taking Gov To Court Over ‘Unconstitutional’ Arctic Drilling

October 21, 2016 Lauren McCauley, www.medium.com Strategize! Arctic drilling, Constitution, Courts, Norway

By Lauren McCauley for Common Dreams - Taking a page from young people in the United States and elsewhere who are standing up for their right to healthy environment, Norwegian youth on Monday filed suitagainst their country's government for expanding Arctic oil drilling despite increasingly dire warnings about the impact such activity is having on the planet's climate. The plaintiffs, which include Greenpeace Norway and the nation's largest youth-led organization, Nature and Youth,

Norway Dumps Duke Energy For History Of Environmental Damage

September 9, 2016 Emery P. Dalesio, www.AP.org Resist! Duke Energy, Environment, Norway

By Emery P. Dalesio for Associated Press - RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — One of the world’s largest investment funds is dumping its shares in Duke Energy Corp. because it sees too much risk in what it called the largest U.S. electric company’s history of environmental damage. The decision to bar investments in Charlotte, North Carolina-based Duke Energy was announced Wednesday by the arm of Norway’s central bank that manages the pension fund created by the Scandinavian country’s oil wealth.

Norway Is First Country To Commit To Zero Deforestation

June 10, 2016 Sadie Levy Gale, www.independent.co.uk Create! Deforestation, Norway

By Sadie Levy Gale for Independent - Norway has become the first country in the world to commit to zero deforestation. The Norwegian parliament pledged that the government’s public procurement policy will become deforestation-free, last month. Norway is a major funder of forest conservation projects worldwide and also supports human rights programmes for forest communities.

Norway’s Plan To Get Rid Of Cars; New Billion-Dollar Bike Highway

March 21, 2016 Adele Peters, www.fastcoexist.com Create! Biking, Cars, Environment, Norway

By Adele Peters for Fast Company - Norway is trying to get rid of as many cars as it can. By 2030, though the country's population is quickly growing, the government is aiming for zero growth in private car use. Downtown Oslo will be car-free in three years. And now as another step towards its goal, Norway plans to spend almost $1 billion on a new network of bike highways. The two-lane bike highways will link suburbs to nine Norwegian cities on the shortest, flattest path possible.

Oslo Creates World’s First ‘Highway’ To Protect Endangered Bees

June 29, 2015 Agence France-Presse, www.theguardian.com Create! Animal Rights, Bees, Norway

By Agence France-Presse - From flower-emblazoned cemeteries to rooftop gardens and balconies, Norway’s capital Oslo is creating a “bee highway” to protect endangered pollinators essential to food production. “We are constantly reshaping our environment to meet our needs, forgetting that other species also live in it,” Agnes Lyche Melvaer, head of the Bybi, an environmental group supporting urban bees, which is leading the project. “To correct that we need to return places to them to live and feed,” she explained, sitting on a bench in a lush city centre square bursting with early Nordic summer growth. With its sunflowers, marigolds and other nectar-bearing flowers planted by bee-loving locals and school children, Abel’s Garden was until recently covered only in grass but is now a floral “feeding station” for bees.

Norway’s Muslims Form Protective Human Ring For Oslo’s Synagogue

February 23, 2015 Balasz Koranyi, www.reuters.com Resist! Faith, Islam, Judaism, Norway, Solidarity

More than 1000 Muslims formed a human shield around Oslo's synagogue on Saturday, offering symbolic protection for the city's Jewish community and condemning an attack on a synagogue in neighboring Denmark last weekend. Chanting "No to anti-Semitism, no to Islamophobia," Norway's Muslims formed what they called a ring of peace a week after Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, a Danish-born son of Palestinian immigrants, killed two people at a synagogue and an event promoting free speech in Copenhagen last weekend. "Humanity is one and we are here to demonstrate that," Zeeshan Abdullah, one of the protest's organizers told a crowd of Muslim immigrants and ethnic Norwegians who filled the small street around Oslo's only functioning synagogue.

Greenpeace Activists Occupy Oil Rig In Norwegian Arctic

May 28, 2014 Brian Ries, www.mashable.com Resist! Arctic, Greenpeace, Norway, Oil

A group of fifteen Greenpeace activists from eight different countries boarded and climbed an oil rig in the Norwegian arctic Monday morning, protesting a Norwegian company's plans to drill there. The activists, who were in the area on the Greenpeace ship the MV Esperanza in the Barents Sea approximately 190 miles north of Norway, made the decision to board the drilling rig Transocean Spitsbergen, which was en route to the Hoop area in the Barents Sea, after learning that the Norwegian government had reversed an earlier decision blocking drilling in the region. See also: Another Day, Another Tech Protest — But Not for the Reason You Think Greenpeace says the drilling site, the most northernmost well in the Norwegian Arctic, is too close to the Bear Island nature reserve — and an oil spill would devastate the island's unique and unspoiled habitat. Greenpeace's message: Pull out.

«1 2 »

Daily movement news and resources