Most Norwegians are happy and proud of our nature. In fjords and mountains. Bush. And if you ask a representative sample of us if we want to take care of this nature, I think an overwhelming majority will answer yes. Nevertheless, we are destroying this nature at a frightening pace, which new technology is now fully showing. With the help of artificial intelligence, news has been able to document 44,000 small and large interventions in the last five years alone. And even these thousands of cases do not give the full picture. Decommissioning of green areas, such as forests and bogs, both releases greenhouse gases and destroys nature. The reduction means the loss of important carbon stores and climate emissions of approx. 1.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents annually. This corresponds to approximately 4 percent of total Norwegian emissions. We need goals, tools and systems for an area- and nature-positive social development. Many of the individual projects that destroy nature are built with good intentions and intentions. Schools and new roads are hidden behind the numbers. Industrial parks that will create jobs. Cottages for recreation and leisure and housing estates that give new generations a place to live. Individually, these thousands of wishes to develop their own local community are understandable and completely legitimate. In sum, they represent a serious social problem that requires us to rethink how we develop our society going forward. My goal is simple, but difficult: We must become land-neutral, before it is too late. We will become area neutral at one point or another. But we must make sure to become one before our valuable nature is built out, bit by bit. That is the background for the Labor Party and the Center Party agreeing to set nature as a framework for all politics. In 2024, we will submit a report to the Storting on how Norway will follow up on the global nature agreement. This will be our new action plan for nature. At the same time, we are already embarking on a number of measures, including: developing a nature account that gives an overview of the nature we have and which provides the basis for developing land management that seriously values nature’s qualities. take better care of important ecosystems, through, among other things, a ban on the construction of bogs and the protection of important forests. set clearer requirements and expectations together with the municipalities as planning authorities, for example to avoid building cabins in vulnerable nature. Launch a municipal initiative with support to carry out plan washing of area plans and generally strengthen natural diversity. Since the Ministry of the Environment, the forerunner of today’s Ministry of Climate and the Environment, was established in 1972, a lot has happened. In Norway, almost 18 percent of the mainland area is protected in over 3,300 protected areas. Many of my predecessors have made a great effort to take care of nature. Like when Gro fought for Hardangervidda, known from the TV series Makta, or those who have fought for Østmarka to become a national park – which was finally decided this autumn. In news’s case, it appears that the municipalities are one of the reasons why nature is being destroyed in Norway. That is correct. But if we are to get something done with this challenge, I am concerned that this is a responsibility that we all share, municipalities, the state and private actors. There are also many municipalities that do a good job: Skjåk municipality, where 74 percent of the municipality is protected nature. Nordre Follo municipality, which has stipulated land neutrality in its municipal plan. Beiarn municipality, which recognizes that nature is their main competitive advantage. But despite these efforts, we are still destroying our country. It is high time that we put nature policy into a system and change the way we develop our society. Avoids deconstruction where we can, moves deconstruction to less important areas where it is needed, and improves nature policy, for example by restoring damaged nature where possible. Or “UFF” as it can also be called. The “UFF” hierarchy should form the basis of all the country’s municipal councils, as well as the government’s planning of infrastructure. At the same time, we must be able to carry out the measures in a way that makes it possible for us to create jobs, produce more renewable energy and further develop small and large local communities in line with our wonderful local democracy. We must find ways to say yes to development that does not destroy nature, rather than thinking that we should just say no. Only then can we make nature a framework for all politics.
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Nature sets the framework for human development – Expression
