Sustainable Development Policies in Norway

1. Sustainable Development Policies in Norway Presentation by State Secretary Geir Olsen, Ministry of Finance, at the Conference on Sustainable Development at Holmen Fjordhotell June 20-21 2005

2. National Agenda 21 Norway presented a national strategy on SD in 2002, ahead of Johannesburg. The Government followed up with a National Plan of Action (National Agenda 21) in autumn 2003. • Broad stakeholder participation • Work headed by a committee of state secretaries • The Ministry of Finance responsible.

3. National Agenda 21 – a part of the National Budget Sustainable development efforts should be linked to central economic policy documents and decisions to avoid that sustainability or environmental policy are pursued as separate issues. The National Agenda 21 was published as a part of the National Budget for 2004, and included preliminary indicators for SD. The coordinating role of the Ministry of Finance and the use of the National Budget gained broad support

4. Sustainable development – solidarity and economic development within the carrying capacity of the environment Sustainable development is a question of human welfare and solidarity: • Across time with future generations • Across space, with poor countries and people. Sustainable development requires that capital, when broadly defined, is not declining over time. The UN has defined the main challenges: Global poverty and the environment. The Norwegian Agenda 21 is linked to UN-priorities.

5. The Policy areas of the National Agenda 21 1. International cooperation to promote sustainable development and combat poverty. 2. Climate change, the ozone layer and long-range air pollution. 3. Biological diversity and the cultural heritage. 4. Natural resources. 5. Hazardous chemicals. 6. Sustainable economic development. 7. Sami perspectives on environmental and natural resource management.

6. Policies based on principles Important principles are: • Integration of economic and environmental policies • Common, but differentiated responsibilities – common responsibility, equitable distribution. • The precautionary principle for avoiding irreversible catastrophic changes • Polluter pays - using economic instruments that may have double dividends

7. The role of the Ministry of Finance in sustainable development Among responsibilities are: • Government policy coordination and efficient use of resources. • Green taxes. • Integrated planning. Our macroeconomic models contain energy flows and emissions to air by source. We make official projections of energy use, emissions and costs of reducing GHG-emissions. • Long term economic projections, including analysis of social welfare, government services and pensions. • Sustainable government finances. Important reforms: Fiscal rule for sustainable use of petroleum revenue (2001), Pension reform (2005).

8. Follow up on the National Agenda 21 • The main responsibility for follow up rests with individual ministries. • The follow up is reported in our annual National Budgets – which are discussed in the Parliament • Coordination by a committee of state secretaries headed by the Ministry of Finance • Establishment of indicators for SD • Increasing public awareness • New initiatives: • A panel for green public purchases • A home page for CSR containing relevant information.

9. SD in The National Budget 2006 Important issues pertaining to SD are covered various places in the budget. In the special report on SD there will be: • Reporting from the ministries on their work on SD • A report on status of climate change policies • A follow up on the expert committee on SD indicators.