The EU and China are ready to take on more responsibility to reduce emissions. After trump announced the US withdrawal from the Treaty of Paris, it is believed that China has a “Golden chance” to take a global leadership role in combating climate change.
Norway would like to see Russia involved in the fight against climate change.
“The words of President Putin that the Treaty of Paris of great importance, are a positive sign. Russia has signed but not ratified the Treaty of Paris. She sent a signal that it plans to ratify the Treaty of Paris in 2019,” — said the Minister of climate and environment Vidar Helgesen (Vidar Helgesen) in an interview with ABC Nyheter.
The desire to develop cooperation with Statoil
At the meeting of the Minister of industry Monica Miland (Monica Mæland) with the Russian Minister of natural resources and environment Sergei Donskoy discussed the Norwegian-Russian cooperation in the fight against climate change.
This is stated in the minutes of the meeting seen by the Internet newspaper ABC Nyheter. The meeting took place on April 20.
In particular, both sides expressed the wish to more actively develop cooperation between Statoil and the Russian joint-stock company “Rosneft”.
The Russian side also expressed the wish that the state joint stock company “Gazprom” has collaborated with Norwegian companies in matters related to environment and trade.
May 11 this year at the meeting of foreign Ministers of the Arctic Council (five Nordic countries and Russia, USA and Canada), it was decided that the participating countries of the Arctic Council until 2025 reduced soot emissions in the atmosphere by 25-30% (the 2013 level).
A positive signal from Russia
May 30, Vidar Helgesen met in Oslo with his Russian counterpart Sergey Donskoy.
Helgesen expressed concern about the Russian release and the situation of voluntary organizations of environmentalists in Russia, but hopes that the Russian is ready to take on more responsibility.
“Norway has for 25 years supported the important cooperation with Russia on the protection of the environment, but the climate is not the main topic in this cooperation. I hope that Russia will contribute in the form of a real reduction in emissions relative to current level, so we can achieve the goals enshrined in the Treaty of Paris. Russia ranks third in the world in the emission of climate gases and has very high emissions per capita”.
The Minister believes that it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation to achieve the goals established by the Paris agreement.
“To solve climate problems, we need more intensive international cooperation. After the US announced withdrawal from the Treaty of Paris, it is particularly important to strengthen international cooperation in addressing climate issues. In this context, is a very positive joint statement, the EU and China that they are prepared in a larger volume to take the lead in addressing climate issues. For Norway at the present time, the cooperation with the EU’s climate policy becomes even more important,” — said Helgesen.
Last week, he met with trump’s Advisor on climate issues Dave banks (Dave Banks).
Helgesen describes a meeting with councillor Dave banks as “very good and sincere.”
“I received a comment about our point of view on the issue of withdrawal from the Treaty of Paris, at the same time, we would like to hear about next steps. While there is no sufficient clarity, and Americans clearly need more time to formulate its position,” said Helgesen in an interview with NTB after the meeting.
