Norway’s parliament may revoke the protection of its rivers to hydropower, threatening ecosystems, wildlife, and indigenous lands.
Photos and videomaterial can be used for this cause: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VAeCfmYckqa88lC3m0DVDQ4Px9FTFqby
Oslo, Norway – February 5, 2025. In a significant policy shift, the Norwegian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment has proposed granting hydropower development access to all of Norway’s rivers, including approximately 390 waterways currently protected under the Protection Plan for Watercourses. This recommendation, introduced yesterday, suggests that protected rivers should be treated the same as other rivers concerning hydropower initiatives, effectively making all major rivers available for development.
The Protection Plan for Watercourses, established through a series of parliamentary decisions between 1973 and 1993 and later incorporated into the Water Resources Act of 2001, was designed to safeguard selected rivers from hydropower exploitation. The plan aimed to balance Norway’s extensive hydropower development with the preservation of valuable river ecosystems. The current proposal to remove these protections has been met with concern from environmental groups and international communities.
The committee’s proposal is set to be presented to the full parliament next Tuesday. Notably, the recommendation has garnered cross-party support, with only minor parties expressing objections.
This development comes two years after Norway endorsed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework during the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15). The framework includes ambitious targets to protect at least 30% of the world’s land and water areas and to restore 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030. Currently, around 17% of Norway’s land areas which is mostly in the high mountain areas, not river basins.
Environmental experts warn that hydropower could devastate Norway’s protected rivers, disrupting ecosystems, endangering wildlife, altering water flow, and degrading habitats critical to biodiversity and even increasing risks of flooding in some instances.
The proposal has been met with criticism for its expedited process, as it was introduced without public hearings or comprehensive research into the environmental consequences. Critics argue that this approach undermines Norway’s commitments to international biodiversity agreements and could have lasting negative effects on the nation’s natural heritage.
Due to pre-existing hydropower plants, Norway is already self-sufficient for its energy, but new developments are being justified by the need to supply Europe’s growing energy demand and under the guise of flood prevention. Despite this, the remaining hydropower potential is not enough to meet rising consumption. The proposal risks irreversible environmental damage for limited energy gains, with little time for debate.
Historically, hydropower projects have had significant impacts on Sámi territories, disrupting reindeer migration routes and affecting natural resources vital to their culture and economy. The Alta controversy of the late 1970s and early 1980s serves as a poignant reminder of the tensions between development and indigenous rights in Norway.
As the parliamentary vote approaches, stakeholders from environmental organizations and the public are urging lawmakers to consider the long-term ecological impacts and to uphold Norway’s international commitments to biodiversity and environmental protection.
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