Norway recently announced it will invest roughly $200 million into curbing deforestation abroad. The oil-rich Scandinavian country donating funds to protect the world’s forests isn’t anything new: Since 2008, Norway has spent $330 million per year on initiatives to halt deforestation.
Yet, these are not acts of altruism. The hypocrisy of the world’s second richest country is startling: Tesla-loving Norwegians have gained their prosperity from Arctic drilling, which threatens the vulnerable ecosystem and reinforces the West’s fossil fuel addiction.
Norway’s motivations to save rainforests are another example of Western double standards shifting the blame for climate change onto less developed nations.
Experts have pointed out Norway’s “climate paradox.” Norway claims to lead global climate efforts while relying on heavily polluting fossil fuels. Despite the criticism, Norway’s ruling Conservative Party has vowed to pursue oil cultivation until it loses profitability.
There’s a stark contrast to how Norway treats deforestation at home and abroad. Norway has lost forest since 2017. Yet, it seems to be acting as if this is only a concern in the developing world.
Why is Norway imposing restrictions overseas but not at home? To divert attention away from its own culpability in climate change.
This isn’t a new phenomenon. There’s a tendency to shift the burden of climate change to developing nations for attempting to lift themselves out of poverty. For the developing world, this is an economic trap: The West is, in essence, kicking away the ladder it used to climb up to prosperity.
Ironically, the developing world is expected to do the heavy lifting for making their industries sustainable while the West enjoys revenues from fossil fuels. With Norway’s climate track record, it’s clear that Norway’s investments to halt deforestation overseas are nothing but a PR stunt.
Moreover, despite Norway’s investments, global deforestation saw a sharp increase in 2020: Tropics lost 4.2 million hectares of forest, an area the size of the Netherlands.
Where Norway’s funds have gone raises questions. In Brazil, for example, these funds have shockingly failed to protect rainforests. For over a decade, the Brazilian Amazon Fund has been the largest recipient of Norway’s funds with $1.2 billion poured into it.
After President Jair Bolsonaro came to power in 2019, the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon surged, with the world’s largest rainforest turning from a carbon sink into a carbon source. While the payments to Brazil were suspended later in 2019 after public criticism, the past investments have literally gone up in smoke.
In addition, illegal deforestation is rampant within the Brazilian beef and soy industries where Western consumers’ steaks and burgers come from. So far, the West has ignored its active role in the Amazon’s demolition as well as Bolsonaro’s blatant declaration that the Amazon is open for business.
By disregarding the government’s refusal to take action to protect the Amazon, the West sends a clear message: profit before environment.
Notably, while deforestation has increased both in Brazil and globally, some regions have seen an opposite trend. An example of this is Southeast Asia, where palm oil producers have implemented national certifications to ensure palm oil is no longer produced at the expense of rainforests.
Malaysia is one of the success stories: Due to the establishment of the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil Certification, the country has seen a rapid decline in deforestation rates since 2017. Furthermore, the government made the MSPO scheme mandatory in the beginning of 2020, issuing sanctions and penalties for noncompliance.
As we’ve seen with Brazil, national legislation alone without the government’s will to enforce it won’t save rainforests. The reason why the MSPO scheme has yielded impressive results is because it not only rewards farmers with zero deforestation but also imposes negative ramifications for producers who contribute to deforestation.
If Norway truly wants to halt overseas deforestation, it must start by supporting initiatives with proven results and admit its own complicity in climate change. Otherwise, Norway is only clearing its own conscience.
With the recent U.N. IPCC report declaring “a code red for humanity,” we have no time to waste. Ahead of November’s critical COP26 Summit in Glasgow, Western countries must turn their empty commitments into actions.
Until then, their efforts are just for show.
Muhammed Magassy has been a member of the Gambian National Assembly since 2012. He is a member of Parliament for the Economic Community of West African States.
