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see coming. We believe these companies and our region will
be future economic and political winners.”
Some companies are also looking well beyond the emissions
arising from their own operations for opportunities to reduce
climate change impacts, even though they are not required to
do that to qualify for carbon neutral status.
Themajor Norwegian energy supplier, Fjordkraft, for example,
has a relatively low climate impact from its own activities,
as it uses 100 per cent renewable energy. Fjordkraft’s Arild
Soldal says the greatest contribution the company can make
is to demand climate neutrality from its suppliers, who are
responsible for emissions on a far larger scale.
“Climate neutrality was made an absolute demand from2011.
If you want to be a supplier for our company, you’ll have to be
climate neutral,” says Soldal.
As for Norway’s climate neutral ambitions as a country, it is
still early days. The government has agreed to invest €600
million each year to purchase carbon offsets, even if they are
not required to do so for the country to meet its emissions
reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol.
Norway has become a leading global player in the carbon
trading market, and a champion of funding schemes in the
developing world to reduce emissions from deforestation
and forest degradation. Norway is, for example, the first
contributor to the Brazilian Government’s Amazon Fund,
pledging up to $1 billion over the next 10 years to schemes
helping to combat rainforest destruction and support
sustainable livelihoods.
The reality of Norway’s carbonneutral commitment still seems
rather intangible to many of its citizens—and the impacts
of its oil exports will not be included in the commitment.
But places like Arendal are showing that once it catches
on, climate neutrality can produce networks of committed
companies and institutions that, together, make a significant
contribution towards reducing the climate footprint well
beyond the city’s boundaries.
Photo: courtesy of Aust-Agder county