Norway's aid accused of climate 'hypocrisy and lies'

A Ugandan climate justice activist accused Norway of “hypocrisy and lies” in a confrontational opening speech during the Scandinavian country’s flagship development conference on Tuesday. Vanessa Nakate’s pointed words highlight a key criticism of Norway aid and climate policy: the country is one of the world’s most generous donors, but continues to relentlessly drill for oil. “Norway invests in renewables, but it continues to develop oil and gas exports. … It is time to stop the moral and economic madness.” --— Vanessa Nakate, climate justice activist “Norway often likes to portray itself as a climate leader,” Nakate told the room full of government officials, politicians, and aid workers gathered in Oslo for the daylong event. “But just last week, the Norwegian government announced its plans to offer a record number of oil exploration blocks in the Arctic … does this sound like climate leadership to you?” Nakate, who has lobbied world leaders to take action on climate change alongside Greta Thunberg, was the only speaker to publicly criticize Norway during the annual conference, which was focused on sustainable development, climate, and biodiversity. It was hosted by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, or Norad. The Scandinavian country made a record 884 billion Norwegian kroner ($89.3 billion) from fossil fuels in 2022 as the war in Ukraine caused an energy crunch in Europe, with revenue predicted to rise to NOK 1.38 trillion this year. Meanwhile, civil society leaders fear cuts to the country’s aid budget — which is tied to 1% of gross national income — though Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has suggested previously that this will not happen. One Norad official privately admitted to Devex that the conference itself is an example of greenwashing — a claim denied by Norad’s Director General Bård Vegar Solhjell, who pointed out to Devex that the agency allowed voices like Nakate’s “to be heard.” Meanwhile, the conference’s discussions on financing development and climate continued the widespread pressure on multilateral development banks to reform, and a discussion of using tax policy to help fund development and climate response by Lucas Chancel, co-director of the World Inequality Lab. “The Norwegian government likes to claim that it should be able to expand oil production because its oil is cleaner than oil from other countries. … There is no such thing as clean oil,” Nakate said during her speech. She called for the Norwegian government to stop financing new fossil fuel developments, to “massively” scale up finance for renewable energy, especially in the global south, and for its climate finance to be made in grants rather than loans. Inside Norway, the windfall fossil fuel revenues have fuelled an internal debate about what should be done with the money, and support has grown for an international solidarity fund to support climate action, among other development objectives. “All too often, Norway gives with one hand, and takes with another,” Nakate said. “Yes, Norway invests in renewables, but it continues to develop oil and gas exports … It is time to stop the moral and economic madness, it is time to stop the hypocrisy and the lies. Norway, you cannot have it both ways.” The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it is aware of the responsibilities that come with the increased oil and gas revenues. Nakate also took aim at Norad’s Oil for Development program, which focuses on promoting the management of fossil fuel resources around the world, calling it a “travesty.” “Like any initiative that is funding new fossil fuel infrastructure, it must end right now,” she said. She predicted that oil and gas developed on the African continent would not reach Africans and instead be “sent to Europe,” profits would go to those already the most wealthy, and “when new fossil infrastructure has become obsolete in the next couple of decades, the resulting debt will suffocate Africans who are already gasping under existing debt.” Solhjell said Nakate’s criticisms were fair “to a large degree.” The Oil for Development program would be ending in 2024, to be replaced by a scheme focused on broader energy management, including renewables. But Solhjell also defended the Oil for Development program, which began in 2006, when he said there was “broad agreement in Norway that it was a good idea” prior to the country signing the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015. “Very few Norwegian development programs have had so much demand,” Solhjell said. “Loads of countries wanted to participate. And there’s some really successful examples,” he added, citing helping the development of an oil fund in Timor-Leste and the development of Ghana’s energy laws “so they have one of the best judicial regimes in Africa.” “I will not be the one to say that Tanzania or Uganda or Mozambique shouldn’t develop their resources, that’s their decision,” Solhjell added.