Earth Equity News

Re-Elected Norway Premier Vows to Fight Climate Change. By Karl Ritter, AP, September 15, 2009. "Norway's prime minister on Tuesday said fighting climate change would be a priority in his second term after his left-leaning government beat a splintered opposition to win re-election. Jens Stoltenberg's Labor-led coalition won 86 seats to keep a slim majority in the 169-seat Parliament after using oil money to shield the Nordic welfare state from the global recession. The opposition won 83 seats, according to the initial official count. A final tally was expected later this week... The 50-year-old Labor leader -- the first Norwegian prime minister to win re-election in 16 years -- said Norway will press for a global climate pact later this year at negotiations in Copenhagen. A key issue, he said, would be for rich countries to help developing nations pay for reductions in greenhouse emissions... He renewed the government's commitment to make Norway carbon neutral by 2030. That pledge, however, does not account for the country's oil exports... The election result means that Norway continues to buck a trend that has seen center-right blocs take power in its Nordic neighbors Sweden, Denmark and Finland."