Norway and Sustainability
I was not able to attend the recent IBC event in Amsterdam. I am thrilled to hear that it was a great event following on the success of the NAB Show earlier this year.
Instead of being in Amsterdam, I was traveling on a pre-pandemic-planned trip in Norway. The trip was a vacation – biking the fjords of Norway – but it gave me the opportunity to learn more about how sustainability works in other parts of the world.
Norway is an interesting place. From a landmass point of view, it is about half the size of Texas, or about 90% the size of Germany. But Norway has far fewer people that either, about 5.4 million people compared to nearly 29 million in Texas or 80 million in Germany.
Norway is a rich country with a very high standard of living. According to the OECD, Norway ticks many boxes for such things a quality education, healthcare, and longevity. Comparably speaking, it is expensive to live in Norway, but the average annual income is also higher than in other countries.
Norway is a country of landscape beauty. Between its enormous coastline of fjords and islands (altogether about 16,000 miles!) to its majestic mountains and forests, Norwegians are extremely proud of their country’s expansive outdoors. I’ve read that Norwegians live the outdoors like the French live food and wine. It is an integral part of the Norwegian experience.
Everywhere you go, people are hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing. Yes, there are cars on the road, with many now being electric or hybrid. The move to electric is growing. We learned that in July 2022, 70% of new car sales were either electric or hybrid. And that about 70% of Norway’s energy comes from hydropower.
Norway gets high marks on its progress towards supporting the UN’s SDG’s (Sustainability Development Goals). According to the SDG Index, Norway’s performance for goals 1 (no poverty), 3 (good health and well-being), 5 (gender equality), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 10 (reduced inequalities) and 17 (partnerships for the goals) is high. Norway’s form of government, including its Leave No One Behind policy, is integral within its mainstream foreign and development policies to further support the SDG’s.
I guess we can say that Norway is green in both landscape and sustainability marks.
The interesting thing about Norway is that it can support its strong standard of living and welfare society because it has the so-called Oil Fund. Formed in 1990, now known as the Government Pension Fund Global, the fund invests the surplus revenues from Norway’s vast petroleum sector. Today, the fund is valued at over $1.19 trillion.
Norway uses the proceeds of that fund to make things like quality education, healthcare, and bike lanes, among other things, available to all citizens.
It is ironic that one of the greenest countries in the world relies on oil to keep it that way.
We know that it takes investment to make a lasting sustainability impact. And we know that politics can often get in the way of progress. But it appears that the Norwegians have figured that out. But they also know that oil is not going to last forever, and they know they need to find alternative sources in order to sustain their high standard of living into the future. The cynic would say that Norway has a problem on its hands. I say that Norway has learned to use its vast oil reserves to pave the way to a greener future.
PS: Even though I could not attend IBC, I was happy to help put together a session on sustainability together with Cedric Lejuene, Kristan Bullet, Dom Robinson, and Khandiz Joni. If you missed it, the full session is viewable from the IBC 365 platform.
