Of all people, it was a comedian who turned the spotlight on loss of nature and made it into an issue that almost everyone in Norway talked about in 2024. Up until that point, most people had turned a blind eye to what was happening, as long as it wasn’t happening in their neighbourhood.
By: Helge M Markusson // Leader, Fram Centre Dissemination Group
“The Inspector”, a series of four episodes, was broadcast during prime time on the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s television channel NRK1. It was led by one of the Norway’s most famous comedians, Bård Tufte Johansen. The editorial team highlighted the loss of nature and biodiversity due to various construction projects in Norway.
The programme took us to Kvaløya in Tromsø, where a large mountainous area has been completely transformed by a large wind turbine farm. We also visited an island on the Helgeland coast that had been blasted away beyond recognition; land-based fish farms will be built there, completely secured against discharges and escaping salmon. We were taken south to Grenland where vast areas of forest are being cut down and levelled to make way for a data storage centre for Google. And not least, the trip visited holiday cottage “villages” that were as big as cities.
When the series started, NRK published a survey of nature destruction in Norway. The dataset was compiled by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. Using artificial intelligence and satellite imagery, they found 44,000 encroachments on nature over a five-year period. The study also revealed thousands of encroachments on various particularly important natural habitats. Every minute, Norway loses 79 square metres of nature. Even in particularly valuable areas, such as marshes and places where wild reindeer roam, natural habitat corresponding in size to two football pitches or more disappears every day. It should also be pointed out that this survey did not include areas affected by wind power and logging development.
Suddenly everything felt so much closer – things that scientists have been pointing out for years. Things that we actually knew, but dismissed by saying: “There’s plenty of nature to go around.” The truth is that Norwegian nature is being degraded at a far quicker pace than most people are aware of. Reports have been written and books have been published, but it took a comedian to get people to actually see what is happening.
There is nothing to suggest that this loss of nature will stop. Disputes over use of land and water areas will affect us for decades to come. The massive opposition to the development of the wind farm at Fosen – especially from the Sámi side, which is supported by a Supreme Court ruling – is just a foretaste of things to come.
We are facing a global energy crisis. Climate change is already having major consequences, and they contribute to the lack of resources. A decline in biodiversity and increasing food shortages characterise our present and future. As Norway struggles to manage its green shift, conflict concerning how land and water areas should be used is – and will continue to be – a common thread in most of what we do.
Northern Norway comprises resource-rich areas that make up one third of Norway’s total area, and the region is key to the country’s green shift. The Government has presented five main principles that will form the basis for its High North policy in the years ahead. One of these is that the High North will be a centre for sustainable energy, technology, and food.
We must have more electricity in the north. According to forecasts by the power company Troms Kraft, there will be a deficit of at least 7.7 TWh in Troms and Finnmark County in 2030. They believe that this deficit can be covered by expanding and streamlining hydroelectric power, wind power on land and at sea, and to some extent solar power. Wind turbines provide renewable energy, but require large areas, which can hamper the development of other industries, and building wind farms leaves a significant environmental footprint. In order to realise a green shift in the north, the construction of new, emission-free energy sources is crucial. This puts pressure on local authorities. The decisions that are made could affect people’s confidence in Norwegian democracy.
Those who hold political power know that this is going to create conflicts. During the Arctic Frontiers conference in January/February 2024, a high level Norwegian ministerial entourage was in place, led by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide. The latter highlighted the issue several times: “We must have some difficult debates and dare to make some choices with regard to land use conflicts.”
It is important that nature and local communities are taken into consideration, which means that research in these fields must be strengthened. Over the past two years, the Fram Centre steering committee has written an application for a new research programme. The interdisciplinary programme will place greater emphasis on spatial conflicts than previously, and our focus is on the High North.
The Fram Centre’s research collaboration is ready to take on the task. The rest is up to those who adopt the national budget.