The government will have the authority to spend over NOK 8 billion on climate quotas. The quotas can come from countries such as Uzbekistan and Morocco.
Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyev (right) here with trading partners and presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan. Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyev / ImagoPublished: Published:
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The state budget states that the government wants authorization to increase spending on the purchase of climate quotas from NOK 1.2 to 8.2 billion.
Quota trading involves Norway paying other countries to cut climate emissions.
This is so that Norway can meet the obligations in the Paris Agreement.
One of Norway’s signed agreements is linked to the removal of fossil subsidies and energy reform in Uzbekistan. Another possible agreement concerns the purchase of emission reductions in Morocco, Indonesia and Senegal.
State Secretary Ragnhild Sjoner Syrstad in the Ministry of Climate and Environment writes to E24 that the government will thereby make Norway climate neutral.
As a “bonus”, Norway will help developing countries develop renewable energy.
– We have been working on this work for several years and many programs in developing countries are now maturing, hence the need for a mandate from the Storting, says Syrstad.
– Difficulty with information
E24 has asked the ministry how they will be able to control what the money Norway spends on quota purchases goes to. Syrstad does not answer this, but the Ministry of Climate and the Environment points out that the agreement with Uzbekistan was concluded by the World Bank and is subject to the bank’s security mechanisms.
Uzbekistan scores low on one corruption index made by the organization Transparency International.
– Uzbekistan is an authoritarian regime with a low score on corruption and freedom of expression, says lawyer Guro Slettemark from Transparency International Norway.
– It is difficult to get information about the country.
Guro Slettemark has previously worked at the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, and has been a member of the Ethics Council for the Oil Fund. She has been associated with TI Norway since 2009. Photo: Thomas Brun / Transparency International Norway
Morocco, Indonesia and Senegal are also low on the corruption index. Figures from 2019 show, for example, that 31 percent of the population in Morocco state that they pay bribes in connection with public services.
Research manager at Cicero, Steffen Kallbekken, is critical of the quota purchases. He says it is difficult to be sure of the real climate effect.
– There are fundamental challenges with quota systems that measure emissions against a hypothetical reference, and major problems with the quality of such quotas, he tells E24.
Climate quotas
A climate quota is a permit to emit a certain amount of greenhouse gases. A system for trading climate quotas is called a quota system. In a quota system, there is a specific number of quotas that can be sold and bought. Over time, the number of quotas is reduced so that the emissions of greenhouse gases are reduced overall. In the Paris Agreement, the purpose of a global carbon market is that countries can commit to more ambitious climate cuts. There are several types of climate quotas, the most common in Norway are issued by the EU and the UN. Norway’s goal under the Paris Agreement is for emissions to be cut by 55 percent in 2030 compared to the level in 1990. The goal can be reached by buying emission quotas from other countries.
Source: The Government and the Norwegian Environment Agency.
Sea view
He believes that the amount the government wants to set aside for quota purchases in the future is a large cost, and that money through climate finance in other areas would contribute to greater emission cuts.
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In addition to the billion amount for international quotas, the government has also asked the Storting for a mandate to use NOK 3 billion on climate quotas in the EU. This is to make up for missing cuts in the forestry sector.
Secretary General Karoline Andaur of the WWF World Wildlife Fund is afraid that quota purchases will become a cushion.
Secretary General Karoline Andaur of the WWF World Wildlife Fund believes climate quotas Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB
– The government’s climate plan already relies on several measures with uncertain effect, such as increased mixing of biofuel. We don’t have time for more uncertain measures.
The government-appointed Climate Committee 2050, which released its report two weeks ago, also warns the government against leaning too much on climate quotas.
“There is a risk that it will become a political burden if Norway does not transform itself into a low-emission society, but achieves the climate goals by purchasing emission reductions,” says the committee.
“Purchasing climate quotas cannot become a cushion to avoid having to make the necessary emission cuts at home,” says Andaur in WWF.
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She is supported by Amnesty International Norway.
– We cannot buy our way out of our responsibility, neither in Uzbekistan nor Morocco, says project manager Astri Sjoner.
Norway is leading quota purchase negotiations
Norway has long fought to create a new system for international emissions trading.
In two weeks, at the upcoming climate summit in Dubai, Norway will help lead the negotiations on quota purchases under the Paris Agreement.
Former climate and environment minister and current foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, is leading the negotiations together with climate and environment minister Grace Fu from Singapore.
The first version of the agreement came into place during the climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, also then led by Eide and Fu.
Norway has previously spent NOK 2.9 billion on international quotas so far, including from countries such as China, Romania, South Africa, Hungary and Brazil.
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2023-11-14 20:57:02
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