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Norway: Greenhouse gas emissions down 3.5% last year

GeirangerfjordPhoto: Damir Spanic / Unsplash

Final figures for 2020 show a decrease in Norwegian greenhouse gas emissions of 3.5% from 2019, figures from Statistics Norway (SSB) show.

That is a decrease of 0.06% from the preliminary figures published by Statistics Norway in July. The updated figures show a decrease from all emission sources at the main level. 

The largest decline is from oil and gas extraction, which emitted 5% less greenhouse gas than in 2019, despite a 20% increase in oil production.

“This is related to the fact that the electrified oil field Johan Sverdrup had its first full year of operation in 2020,” the SSB noted, pointing out that there was a decline in gas production in Norway in 2020.

Another reason for the decrease is downtime in oil and gas extraction.

Pandemic year

In transport, there was also a sharp decline in emissions from air transport in 2020. In total, emissions from domestic aviation fell by 32% from 2019.

The pandemic also contributed to lower district heating production due to closed schools and shopping centers and empty commercial buildings.

A total of 49.3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents were emitted in 2020. Climate Minister Espen Barth Eide (AP) says it is good that emissions are going down, but he is not happy yet.

“It is good that Norwegian emissions are declining. At the same time, the figures show that we have a big job ahead of us in reducing emissions from the entire economy. The government has an ambitious goal of cutting (emissions) by 55% by 2030. We are now working on new measures to reduce emissions faster,” he noted in a comment to NTB.

4% drop in emissions since 1990

Greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 were 4% lower than in 1990, which is the reference year in the international climate agreement, the “Paris Agreement.”

The largest emission reductions from one year to another were in 1991 and 2009, just under 5%. If we compare greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 with the peak year of 2007, the emission reduction is 13%. 

The largest decline has been registered in the Norwegian industry.

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

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