Since the government launched the state budget on Monday, news has been practically belittled by partly outraged, partly almost astonished, politicians. Because what happened to the investment in nature that the Prime Minister announced with specific figures just two weeks ago? – It is a serious bluff from the prime minister, says Lars Haltbrekken, parliamentary representative for the Socialist Left Party. – This is trickery, says Alfred Bjørlo, parliamentary representative for the Liberal Party. Promised 100 million after “awakening” The background: On Friday 20 September, news was invited to meet Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Climate and Environment Minister Tore O. Sandvik at Sognsvann in Oslo. There, the two politicians leaked a commitment from this year’s state budget: NOK 100 million for nature. Støre said that news’s revelations about nature loss had been an awakening and that they had “never had such a large investment in the nature field before”. news asked Støre straight out if the 100 million for nature had been taken from other nature investments, and he replied: – No, this is new money for nature, which we have set aside and prioritized in the state budget. And I promise you that, it shows that this is a big and important matter for the government, because it will compete with other initiatives. The only problem is that this does not seem to be true. Photo: Oliver Ivanowitz / news Natursats: in reality a cut? There are mainly two things that now make a number of parties and environmental organizations stubborn. Firstly: In the news interview on Sognsvann, Støre and Sandvik promised NOK 20 million to the Natursats project, where municipalities can apply for money to take care of nature. This sum, 20 million, was confirmed to news in writing by Sandvik’s political adviser after the interview. The number was part of the calculation of 100 million to nature. So, on Monday this week, the real budget proposal came. There, almost the 20 million Støre had promised, namely 18.2 million, was set aside. The only problem is that there is NOK 35 million less for Natursats than in the previous budget. In reality, then, there is talk of a comprehensive cut in the scheme. – The prime minister has either decided not to deal with the truth, or he has not understood the figures he himself presented to news, says parliamentary representative Une Bastholm of the Green Party to news. The government’s tone is far more sober in the budget itself: it says that the funds from last year “will not be continued”, but that enough has been put in for “a certain continuation of the activity”. Storting representative Alfred Bjørlo from the Liberal Party describes it as the whole scheme being cut in practice. – I have actually never looked at the husband. They are abusing the whole concept of advance cases from the state budget. When a government uses such cases, it is after all to give an indication of what to expect from the upcoming budget, not to create the wrong impression, says Bjørlo. Photo: Oliver Ivanowitz / news Thinks 100 million is actually minus 350 million What the other politicians are reacting to is what they call a completely misleading representation of the whole in the budget for nature. Because at the same time as Støre’s “investment” in nature, the government is proposing a cut of almost NOK 450 million in forest protection. Even if one buys Støre’s calculation that the government gives NOK 100 million to the Natursats, nature restoration and nature maps, there is thus a total of minus NOK 350 million to conserve nature. At Sognsvann, news asked the prime minister directly whether the 100 million kroner for nature was taken from other investments in the nature field. Jonas Gahr Støre therefore answered a clear no, and emphasized that this is new money. – When the government has said that they will give 100 million for nature conservation to news, and at the same time cuts almost 450 million for forest protection, then the budget promises are not worth the press release they are written on, says Sofie Marhaug in Rødt to news. – He more than halves the protection of forests! It is very serious, says Lars Haltbrekken in SV. “Disappointingly dishonest” In sum, the politicians believe that Støre’s actions were far beyond the limits of what can be done to put a positive “spin” on an issue. VG has also written about the case, they quote the Nature Conservation Association that Støre’s actions were “disappointingly dishonest”. In the same newspaper, Ola Elvestuen in Venstre calls it “the nature bluff of the ages” and “completely incomprehensible”. The Conservative Party is also reacting. – It is perfectly fine to have happy budget leaks in the media, but then the prime minister cannot promise that there is fresh money when it is untrue, says the party’s climate and energy policy spokesperson Mathilde Tybring-Gjedde to news. – The voters deserve that the prime minister is honest about the government’s investments, and does not promise glossy pictures when the result is grey, she concludes. Photo: oliver Ivanowitz / news Ordknapp Støre On Tuesday, news sent four specific questions to Jonas Gahr Støre, via the Prime Minister’s office. We asked how he could include Natursats as part of an investment, when in practice it is a reduction compared to last year’s budget. We asked why he replied that there were 100 million new kroner for nature in the budget when in practice it will be a net cut. We also asked whether the Prime Minister stands by what he said at Sognsvann, and whether he intended to give a misleading impression. In addition, we sent the concrete criticism from the politicians in this case. First, news was told that it was the Ministry of Climate and the Environment that had to respond. After news emphasized that these are questions that only the Prime Minister himself is qualified to answer, we finally received the following quote, from State Secretary Kristoffer Thoner, forwarded via text message from the press department at the Prime Minister’s office: “Yes, the Prime Minister stands by what he said .” They also refer to what the Prime Minister answered in the Storting’s Question Time on Wednesday: Jonas Gahr Støre responds to the accusation of misleading the voters. See the full exchange in the Storting between Støre and Guri Melby (V). This is how the ministry responds Thus, the Ministry of Climate and the Environment must answer all further follow-up questions, including those that directly concern Støre’s statements. State Secretary Kjersti Bjørstad from the Center Party responds, she too in writing via the ministry’s press department. When asked why the government sold a reduction in Natursats as an increase of NOK 20 million, she replies: “In the settlement for the 2024 budget, the allocation to Natursats increased from NOK 3.2 to NOK 53.2 million. In the government’s proposal for the budget for 2025, the money from last year’s settlement has been withdrawn. The government proposes to strengthen the scheme by NOK 15 million, to NOK 18.2 million.” The ministry thus argues that they have strengthened the scheme by NOK 15 million (not NOK 20, as they originally said), if you take into account that the NOK 50 million that was included in last year’s budget settlement with SV was going to be spent this year anyway. When asked why Støre presented a cut in the nature field as an investment of around 100 million, State Secretary Bjørnstad does not answer the question, but writes the following: “The scheme with voluntary forest protection, Climate Tax and Nature Tax are good schemes that have been an important stimulus for the municipalities. But it is not these schemes that decide whether we take care of nature in Norway or not. The municipalities have a key role. That is why we are giving them new tools and better knowledge through the new action plan for nature, which was recently presented.” Don’t know how much they spend on nature news also asked the ministry how much they have actually changed the budget in the nature field. They cannot answer that, because they have combined the entries for climate, natural diversity and pollution into one large category where nature cannot be separated. Finally, the ministry also comments on the criticism from the politicians in this case with an overall, short answer: “It is not unusual to take out selected preliminary cases before the budget is presented. We have been open about the numbers in this matter.” Lost nature while you have read this case: Published 09.10.2024, at 14.10
ttn-69
Calls Støre’s naturløfter a bluff – news Dokumentar
