The Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education, Ola Borten Moe, visited Western Norway Research Institute 11 March, meeting with Carlo Aall, the leader of Noradapt.
As a part of his presentation of Noradapt, Aall raised the issue of lacking funding for climate adaptation research. This research consitutes a mere 2,3 percent of the total funding for climate research in Norway (2017/2018).
“We perceive this as a challenging situation”, said Carlo Aall.
The Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education, Ola Borten Moe (left), with Carlo Aall and Anne Karin Hamre, WNRI’s Managing Director. (Photo: Idun A. Husabø)
Surprised by the numbers
The fact that the “little brother” of climate research is that much smaller than its siebling, seemed to surprise the Minister of Research and Higher Education, who returned to the topic later on.
“I really believe in climate change adaptation, and I fiund it thought-provoking that such a low share of the total funding for climate-related research is spent on adaptation”, he said.
“I fiund it thought-provoking that such a low share of the total funding for climate-related research is spent on adaptation”
— Ola Borten Moe, Minister of Research and Higher Education
The Minister added that no matter how fast Norway succeeds with mitigation, it will be necessary to prepare for various consequences of climate change, as there is no guarantee that other countries will succeed in cutting their emissions.