“The oil industry cannot be as big as today if we are to reach the 1.5-degree goal,” says Environment Minister Ola Elvestuen, who does not believe oil revenues can be replaced.
Elvestuen (V) recently spoke out in Dagbladet with a tough goal: Norway should change overall and cut 90–95 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
“Norwegian oil and gas has a large share of the Norwegian economy. A large proportion that the industry cannot have in the years to come. To get that change, we must start now,” he says to Our Country.
He believes we will be able to replace the workplaces and the activity that the oil industry has created in this country. But the income the oil adventure has created for Norway will diminish.
“We will not be able to replace that. It has been very special, and when we do not have the huge income in the decades to come, we must run Norway more efficiently,” says Elvestuen.
He gives Swedish Greta Thunberg a part of the honor that the conversation about climate and environment in the world has changed over the past year.
The minister reminds that tomorrow’s voters demonstrated throughout Norway, demanding that the politicians must do much more for the climate.
“The demonstrations emphasize the seriousness of the situation and the will there to do something now,” says Elvestuen.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
