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Eide: Europe needs Norwegian gas

Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB

In Glasgow, countries were encouraged to report new climate targets as early as next year. Norway will not do that, Minister of Climate and Environment Espen Barth Eide says.

Eide notes that the goal that the Solberg government has already reported to the UN, of 50-55% cuts compared to 1990 levels, remains fixed in the future.

“The decision is a new chance for countries to report targets that are compatible with the Paris Agreement and the 1.5-degree target. Norway is already where we need to be,” Eide told the newspaper Klassekampen.

In the Hurdal platform, the Labor Party (AP) and the Center Party (SP) wrote that they plan to cut 55% of Norwegian emissions by 2030, compared with the 1990 level. The cuts will be made “in the entire economy” across all sectors in Norway. This is the goal that Eide now says he will not report to the UN next year. 

He explains that Norway has reached a joint agreement on climate goals with the other Nordic countries. Eide emphasizes that the demand side must change.

“A better alternative”

“I have no faith in the active closure of either production or exploration as a climate measure. I seriously believe that the market needs to take care of that,” Eide added.

In addition, he believes that the decision in Glasgow to phase out coal in the short and medium-term will lead to greater demand for Norwegian gas.

“Then, we hope that that gas can eventually become hydrogen. But for a good while to come, gas will be part of the solution, as a better alternative to coal,” Eide concluded.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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