Norway’s carbon plan – Bold ambition or wishful thinking?

The European Union (EU) aims to reduce carbon emissions by 80% in 2050 relative to 1990 levels. Norway, independent from the EU, has gone one step further with its ambition to become totally carbon neutral by 2050. In many ways the country is in a good position to achieve this target – fossil fuels only account for 1.4% of power generation, while a combination of tax benefits and subsidies are used to promote decarbonisation in industry and transport. But oil and gas revenues still account for 22% of Norway’s GDP and the country has no plans to reduce upstream production. Gas Strategies explores these contradictions and examines the likelihood that Norway will achieve its climate change targets.