– I feel a very big responsibility, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. news meets him early in the morning among the skyscrapers in Dubai. The climate summit begins in earnest today. 170 world leaders are on hand to kick off two weeks of tough negotiations on humanity’s greatest challenge. The meeting takes place on the eve of a year that has broken one grim climate record after another. 2023 will probably be the warmest year ever measured. Støre says that this characterizes him, both as a father and grandfather and as head of government. But there is no contradiction between Norway’s climate work and handing out new oil concessions, believes Støre. Norwegian energy saved a Europe in crisis, and is now the continent’s most important energy supplier, he says. Støre feels a great responsibility in Dubai. Photo: Milana Knezevic / Milana Knežević/ news – I think Norwegian gas will have a role going forward, provided we manage to do the big thing we are about to do, namely capture and store CO₂. It is not gas itself that is the problem, it is the emissions from gas. – The fossil age is on the way down, and it will go faster than many people think. But the new renewables are on the rise, and we must strongly contribute to that. – So you have a clear conscience about it? – I think everyone should feel that they should do as much as possible and that they can do more, I feel that too. But walking around with a bad conscience, I don’t feel that motivates very much. It’s using it every day and the opportunities we have, that’s what motivates me. Dispute over fossil fuel formulations Norway’s goal for the summit is to achieve concrete plans for cuts and concrete commitments to increase renewable energy. – We meet countries here with strong economic growth that have to choose between whether to go for coal power or for renewables. We have to get them to choose renewables, says Støre. The use of language around fossil energy is becoming a hot topic in Dubai. For the first time ever, it can be stated in a declaration from the summit that oil and gas must be phased out. This issue has been extremely heated in the last two summits, even ending in tears. The dispute lies in the fact that some countries that export fossil energy do not want to mention oil and gas at all. On Thursday morning, Støre met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the president of the summit, Sultan Al Jaber. Photo: The Norwegian government and the EU want a wording that encourages phasing out, but makes an exception if the production has carbon capture and storage. This technology does not exist on a large scale today. – Secretary-General António Guterres wants a formulation on the phasing out of all fossil energy. Do you support this? – That is the path we are on. And that is the way the world must go. But it must happen at the same time as alternative energy arrives. That is why this with renewables is so important. We are in a country that is a major oil producer, but which also goes heavily into renewables. Norway must actively contribute to bringing about that change. – Shouldn’t we as a rich country do even more to contribute to this transition, and not just wait for the demand for oil and gas to change? – We are not waiting. After all, we are heavily involved in supporting renewable investment in our own country, but also in other countries. Just now we have seen that Statkraft is buying up, Equinor is turning its activity in that direction. Here we will also help support the major global initiatives. The rainforest investment is an important investment area for us. So we are broadly involved in this. We will do everything we can both to achieve our goals, but also in a way that means it can make a difference in the world. Several ministers will make the trip to Dubai. Here a Støre together with the newly appointed climate minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen. Photo: Milana Knezevic / Milana Knežević Early victory Already on day one, the climate summit resolved a long-standing entanglement. A fund was tapped to help poor countries affected by the climate crisis. A total of 3 billion has already been promised from several countries. It is expected that Støre will announce Norway’s contribution during his speech today. The summit will review the very first status report for the Paris Agreement, which was published this year. It joins an ever-growing pile of reports stating that the world is miles away from limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. A goal that has been set to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. There is a great deal of tension as to what will be the countries’ reaction to this. Get the latest news from Dubai here:
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– A bad conscience does not motivate, believes Støre – news – Klima
