European Union and Norway sign agreement on green alliance

The European Union and Norway have signed an agreement creating a green alliance to strengthen joint climate action, environmental efforts and cooperation in clean energy and industrial transformation. Norway is a long-time and reliable partner of the EU, the signed agreement aims to strengthen joint efforts to achieve a climate-neutral continent.

In the signed document, both sides reaffirm their commitments to achieving their respective 2030 targets. involving a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 55 percent. compared to 1990. and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. Their goal is to keep the global temperature increase within the 1.5 °C limit set by the Paris Agreement, while ensuring energy security, environmental protection and human rights.

The green alliance formed between the European Union and Norway is in line with the European Green Deal and reaffirms the bilateral commitment to achieve climate neutrality and align their national and international climate policies to that end. Priority areas covered by the signed agreement include:

• Stepping up efforts to combat climate change, including cooperation in adapting to climate change, setting greenhouse gas emission fees, removing carbon dioxide and capturing, transporting, disposing and storing it;
• Strengthen cooperation on environmental issues with a focus on halting and reversing biodiversity loss, forest degradation and deforestation, promoting a closed-loop economy and addressing the full life cycle of plastics, developing global standards for chemical and waste management, and sustainable ocean management;
• Supporting green industrial transformation and further enhancing policy and industry cooperation through strategic partnerships, such as the future strategic partnership on value chains for sustainable raw materials and batteries;
• Accelerating the transition to clean energy, with a focus on hydrogen and offshore renewables;
• Decarbonizing the transportation sector for all modes of transportation, with a focus on greenhouse gas neutrality and zero-emission shipping;
• Strengthen regulatory and business cooperation to establish global standards for innovative environmentally friendly solutions needed to accelerate the transition to a closed-loop and carbon-neutral economy;
• Consolidate existing cooperation in research, education and innovation in the areas of decarbonization, renewable energy and bioeconomy;
• Working together to promote sustainable financing and investment to put Europe on a path toward an environmentally sustainable, climate-neutral and climate-resilient economy.