The politicians of the future are far from each other on the issue of the oil industry. All but Unge Høgre and FpU will stop exploration activities on the Norwegian continental shelf. Key youth politicians visited the Johan Sverdrup field this week. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / NRK
The end date is either when the Norwegian continental shelf runs out, or when the world no longer wants oil. But the last drop of oil that is sold on the global market should come from here.
says FpU leader Simen Velle.
He also says that he hopes we get through a green shift as quickly as possible, because it is absolutely necessary.
Simen Velle hopes for a green shift as quickly as possible, but at the same time says "drill, baby, drill". Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / NRK.
The oil and energy fair ONS (Offshore Northern Seas) will be held in Stavanger this week. Far from the center of Stavanger, out in the North Sea, oil is also on the agenda.
Several central youth politicians gathered at the Johan Sverdrup field to learn about how oil production takes place on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Johan Sverdrup is an oil and gas field in the North Sea and lies 140 kilometers west of Stavanger. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø.
Perhaps these will govern Norwegian oil policy in the years to come. Maybe they should sit together in government. But the youth parties are far from each other on the issue of Norway's oil future.
With the exception of Unge Høgre and FpU, none of the youth parties state in their party programs that they want more exploration activity on the Norwegian continental shelf.
This is what the youth parties thinks about exploration activity for oil in the coming years.
Astrid Hoem, head of AUF. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø.
Nils Forren, political deputy head, SUL. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø.
Oda Røhme Sivertsen, UH. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø.
Norway has a special responsibility for supplying Europe with oil and gas, and thus the development of profitable fields must continue.
Simen Velle, FpU. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø.
Ane Breivik, NUV. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø.
Hadle Rasmus Bjuland, KRFU. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø.
Audun Hammer Hovda, SU. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø.
Andreas Aukland, GU. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø.
The production of oil and gas will decline in the years to come, according to a report presented by the Norwegian Continental Shelf Directorate last week.
The question is how steep the fall will be. It depends on new exploration activity and technological development.
More exploration activity is the only way to slow down the fall, says the Norwegian Continental Shelf Directorate.
We want to continue with oil until it is no longer profitable, so a while longer, because we have found oil and gas that can last for the next hundred years,
says deputy manager of Unge Høgre, Oda Røhme Sivertsen
Gaute Børstad Skjervø, deputy head of AUF. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø.
While the AUF's demand to the Labor Party is to put an end to exploration for oil and gas.
We must move on, and then we should not look for new oil and gas fields, says Gaute Børstad Skjærvø in AUF.
We are positive to pick up from what we have already found, but will refine the search. We have oil in the area we are extracting from today, for a long time to come, says Hadle Bjuland in KrFU.
Andreas Aukland from Young Greens of Norway and Audun Hammer Hovda from Socialist Youth agree.
It is overtime that we stop looking for more oil if we are to achieve the ambitions we have and the goals we have set in international climate negotiations, says Hammer Hovda.
Equinor has a plan to look for new fields, largely financed by the state, which will last until 2090. It is financially irresponsible, says Aukland.
Even with two parents who work in the oil industry, Norway’s Young Liberalsleader Ane Breivik is also ready to help.
We must stop the search for more oil and gas, as both the UN Secretary-General, the International Energy Agency, the world's leading social economists, and climate and environmental researchers agree
What I expect from civil government cooperation is to stop all further oil exploration. Hence the stoppage in TFO, says Breivik.
There are several of your youth politician colleagues who say that now we have to stop looking (for oil). What do you say? I say "drill, baby, drill", concludes Velle.
The seven different political parties currently representing in the Norwegian Parliament are popular movements with strong historical bonds, a membership-based internal democracy, and local chapters all over the country. All these have their own youth organisations referred to as ’youth parties’. More than 21 000 young people are members of a political youth party (numbers from 2008).
The most numerous of these in terms of members is the The Labour Party Youth (AUF) with approx 9500 members in 2008. Established in 1903, it is also the oldest.
The main activities of the youth parties include: recruitment of members and voters for the main party, engaging members in political work and election campaigns, and importantly also offering political education and an important social arena for youth that wishes political involvement. Youth parties often perceive themselves as an important corrective – both ideologically and politically – to their respective main parties. They arrange events and gatherings such as trainings, conferences, debates and also summer camps for their members and sympathisers.
Every election year, the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training arranges trial elections (also known as ’school elections’) a few weeks prior to national and regional elections. All high school students (ageD 16 to 19) are invited to vote in these trial elections. In correlation with the school elections, panel debates are arranged in high schools where all the youth parties are represented. This holds a function of political education both for those active in the youth parties as well as the students that attend the debates. Subsequently the students vote in the school elections, and for those aged 18 and over, also in the real elections some weeks later.
The eight largest youth parties in Norway comprise:
In addition to the youth party organisations there are also several political youth organisations in Norway, who are not attached to a political party but engages in specific political issues and offer many of the same types of activities as the youth party organisations.
Based on: Regjeringen
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