Topic - Environment: Norway
sets “carbon neutral” target
Date first posted on eCommunity - 9
September 2007
Norway has committed itself to being carbon-neutral
by the year 2050. In a speech to the Norwegian Labour Party back in
April, the Prime Minister, Mr Jens Stoltenberg, said that the country
will reduce its emissions of greenhouse gasses by 30 percent by 2020,
and be carbon neutral by 2050. You can see a report of the speech at:
http://www.norway.org.uk/policy/news/carbon-neutral.htm
These proposals are the most ambitious of any of the developed nations
of the world. Admittedly, they have attracted some criticism for relying
heavily on "offsetting"- using quotas bought on international markets.
But nevertheless, tangible changes can be expected in daily life in
Norway, and these changes will affect the tourist industry.
We can expect a wide mix of national and local developments, as well as
initiatives from foreign tour operators. They will impact on travel and
on the way resorts and hotels are run.
TRAVEL
We can expect increased taxation on emissions. Indeed this has already
started. The government recently introduced a tax for cruise ships that
enter Norwegian ports – with the amount of tax being dependent on the
ship's amount of carbon emissions.
We can expect increased promotion of sea travel to ski resorts –
especially those near the south coast of Norway, which are accessible
through Kristiansand. The main resorts are Bortelid, Ljosland and Hovden.
And we can expect increased promotion of rail travel, targeting guests
from mainland Europe – and to a lesser extent Britain.
Some tour operators will try to reduce the overall impact of travel by
encouraging guests to take fewer, but longer holidays. Many skiers
currently take two one-week holidays each winter. If they changed to
having one two-week holiday then the environmental benefit would be
significant.
RESORTS
A lot of advice on "green practice" in resorts and hotels already
exists. It covers a wide range of issues such as sustainable resort
development, reduction of car dependency, efficient energy use, waste
reduction and recycling. A good summary can be found on the
website of the Ski Club of Great Britain (
http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/respectthemountain/environment/resorts.asp).
Resorts and hotels will increasingly use good environmental policies
as marketing tools. Pressure-groups and tour operators will
encourage them in this.
In resorts featuring cross-country skiing we can expect to see more
attention to the design and layout of the ski tracks themselves.
Track maintenance is expensive. In Sjusjøen, for example, about two
million kroner are spent each winter on it. And it requires heavy
machinery that has a big carbon footprint. Anything that can reduce
the amount of track maintenance will therefore have attractive
economic benefits as well as environmental ones. We can expect
strategic use of snow fences, and more thorough preparation (in
summer) of the surface underlying the tracks. We will perhaps see
less frequent preparation of high-mountain tracks, which are also
very high-maintenance. Such changes will be accompanied by a move to
bio-diesel fuel in the track-cutting machines.
In hotels there is likely to be an increased choice
of "housekeeping" options (so that you can choose to have your room
cleaned every day or every two days, or not at all). Some hotels
already offer this.
OTHER CHANGES
In ski clothing we can expect to see increased popularity of natural
fibres as opposed to man-made ones. The Norwegian winter climate is
very suited to merino-wool base-layers and Ventile outer shells.
In equipment we might just see a resurgence of wooden skis. This has
been happening in North America, as you can see from a December 2006
report in Cross Country Skier magazine
(
http://www.crosscountryskier.com/crosscountry-bin/show_news.cgi/0?
feed_objective=Nordic%20News).
We are likely also to see a general promotion of cross-country
skiing, as a more environmentally sound activity than downhill
skiing.
At the moment, all this might just seem like idle futurological
speculation. But it's not. The Norwegians have set the cat among the
pigeons with their commitment to carbon neutrality. Before long the
other skiing nations will feel the need to respond, and the entire
winter sports industry will then be affected.
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