According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2014), most known fossil reserves must be left in the ground to avoid dangerous climate change. Unfortunately, there is no sign that the countries producing the most coal, oil and gas are willing to do this. The production gap report (2019) shows that governments are planning to produce 50% more fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 2°C and 120% more than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C. Despite this, Norway continues to explore for new oil and gas. In 2016, a new area was opened up in the Barents Sea (Barentshavet sørøst). As a result, new oil licenses have been handed out even further north and in some of the most vulnerable areas in the Arctic. Eight of the licenses are located within the marginal ice zone, an ecological “hotspot” that is crucial for the whole Arctic ecosystem.In recent years, the severity of climate change has been put higher up on the agenda with the latest IPPC report and mass mobilization to climate demonstrations, especially among young people. The sustainability and future of the
Norwegian oil and gas industry has also been put higher up on the political agenda (especially with the dramatic fall in oilprices recently), but changes in oil policy are yet to come