Creative Climate Justice in Norway

The guide 'Creative Climate Justice in Norway' calls on the Norwegian performing arts and cultural sectors to shift their focus from individual environmental measures to systemic change. It highlights the contradiction between Norway's domestic green initiatives and its role as a major oil and gas exporter, arguing that this policy disproportionately harms the Global South and reinforces colonial and racist structures. The document provides a roadmap for cultural workers to advocate for climate justice, divest from fossil fuels, and amplify the voices of frontline communities.

• The guide distinguishes between two paths for the Norwegian cultural sector: a 'road to the left' focused on reducing the industry's own climate footprint through tools like the 'Grønt Veikart' (Green Roadmap), and a path to the right that challenges systemic issues, specifically Norway's oil policy.
• The document argues that the concept of the 'carbon footprint' was popularized by British Petroleum (BP) to shift responsibility for climate change from oil companies to individual consumers, a rhetorical strategy that the Norwegian oil lobby has also adopted.
• Norway's continued investment in new oil and gas fields, such as the Rosebank field, is described as a racial and economic injustice because the resulting emissions disproportionately affect people of colour in the Global South, repeating patterns of colonialism and slavery.
• Equinor is criticized for using advertising and sponsorships, such as the 'Tomorrow’s Heroes' project, to present itself as a renewable energy company despite 99.85% of its energy production coming from fossil sources.
• The guide asserts that Norway is the third most active country globally in opening new oil and gas fields, trailing only Russia and Brazil, and exceeding the activity of the USA, Canada, Australia, India, and China.
• To achieve climate justice, the cultural sector is urged to implement a roadmap that includes decarbonizing through the removal of fossil fuel sponsorships, decolonizing culture, and advocating for the removal of environmentally harmful subsidies for the oil industry.

APA

Klimakultur (2023). Creative Climate Justice in Norway. https://www.klimakultur.no/media/sbndbvj2/creative-climate-justice-in-norway.pdf

Chicago

Klimakultur. Creative Climate Justice in Norway. 2023. https://www.klimakultur.no/media/sbndbvj2/creative-climate-justice-in-norway.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Klimakultur |title=Creative Climate Justice in Norway |date=September 2023 |url=https://www.klimakultur.no/media/sbndbvj2/creative-climate-justice-in-norway.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{klimakultur2023creative, author = {{Klimakultur}}, title = {{Creative Climate Justice in Norway}}, institution = {Klimakultur}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://www.klimakultur.no/media/sbndbvj2/creative-climate-justice-in-norway.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }