Acceptance

Climate change represents one of the most complex challenges of our time. Governments worldwide are adopting ambitious goals for net-zero emissions by mid-century. Achieving these goals will, however, require more than individual policy instruments like carbon taxes to deal with multiple goals and interests; they require comprehensive "policy portfolios"- carefully designed combinations of policies to ensure effectiveness, fairness, and public support. 

Norway’s climate target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and become a low-emissions society by 2050, will require significantly stronger climate and energy policies. In NOREGRET, social and energy scientists are studying how such a transition can be carried out.

The ZEESA research project aims to provide knowledge on how best to develop integrated renewable energy systems for demanding Arctic conditions. The project is a "Competence-building project for business" that works across natural science and social science methods.

This project seeks to understand the relationship between right-wing populism (RWP) and opposition to climate science and policy, and to identify climate policy options that are politically feasible even in electorates inclined to support RWP.

In January 2021, the Norwegian government presented an ambitious plan to reduce Norway's climate emissions by up to 55 percent by 2030 compared with 1990 (Ministry of Climate and Environment 2021). To achieve this, transport policy must support comprehensive emission reductions that are at the same time perceived as sufficiently fair that it can be maintained over time. This is the starting point in the collaborative project SUSTAIN.

Politically Feasible Renewable Energy Development: The Role of Public Acceptance.

The over-arching task of this project is to study the political feasibility of the low carbon energy policy transition initiated by the EU. In order to adopt and implement efficient policies at the regional, national and local level, public acceptance for policy change will be crucial.