Norway to pay Gabon to protect its tropical rainforests
As part of a 10-year deal announced on Sunday (Sept. 22), Norway will pay $150 million to the African nation of Gabon to battle deforestation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is a huge deal considering Gabon is home to the second-largest tropical rainforest in the world, a thriving home to Read More...
World’s first hybrid cruiser sets sail to Alaska
While gas-powered cars are rightfully criticized for their environmental footprint, they don’t even come close to the amount of pollution emitted by cruise liners. Indeed, while cars receive the brunt of the criticism, a recent study found that the world’s largest luxury cruise operator Read More...
Norway pulls the plug on plans to drill massive oil reserve
Western Europe’s biggest petroleum producer is falling out of love with oil. To the dismay of the nation’s powerful oil industry and its worker unions, the opposition Labour Party over the weekend decided to withdraw its support for oil exploration offshore the sensitive Lofoten islands in Read More...
Norway sets record as it sells more electric vehicles than gas and diesel ones
The EV revolution is blossoming and Norway is here to prove it. In a symbolic first, electric cars outsold fossil fuel-powered ones in the Scandinavian country last month. The country set a record in March when 58.4 percent of new cars sold in the country were battery-powered. To achieve such Read More...
Oslo is installing the world’s first wireless electric car charging stations
When it comes to electric vehicles, no one is further ahead of the game than Norway. The Nordic country has the highest percentage of residents driving electric cars, and the government is even mandating that all new cars sold in the country be all-electric by 2025. Now Norway is taking it one Read More...
The world’s biggest divestment in oil and gas is underway
The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, which manages $1 trillion of Norway’s assets, is to dump investments in firms that explore for oil and gas. The divestment will gradually start phasing out $8 billion held in 134 fossil fuels companies, making it the biggest divestment the world has Read More...
Norwegian studio designs chair using old fish nets from local fisheries
At the Optimist Daily, we’re all about repurposing waste into something entirely new. However, while it’s awesome to make a product out of materials that would otherwise end up in the trash, that isn’t a guarantee that the product will be entirely useful or aesthetically pleasing. That’s Read More...
Norway is embracing an upswing in electric cars with the government’s help
The land of the midnight sun is seeing an admirable upsurge in electric cars on its streets. Some 30 percent of all new cars sport plug-in cables rather than gasoline tanks, compared with 2 percent across Europe overall and 1-2 percent in the US. This follows Norway’s pledge to reduce emissions Read More...
Norway to become first country to ban palm oil in the fight to save rainforests
Norway is set to become the first country to put an end to its palm oil consumption as soon as 2020. The parliamentary decision has been welcomed as a victory in the fight against the palm oil industry which is one of the major contributors to catastrophic deforestation and wipe-out of natural Read More...
Norway to go ahead with biggest coal divestment yet
The fossil fuel divestment movement, which has been taking off since the beginning of this year, just received its biggest boost yet. Norway’s Parliament agreed to sell off all coal investments from its $900-billion sovereign wealth fund. The move will affect some 122 companies to the tune of Read More...