#Norway

The Proverbial Drop

/ PK Read / Leave a comment

The recent Warsaw Climate Change Conference ended with a couple of modest successes, the main one being that the conversation will continue between nations as to what to do about man-made impact on the climate.

An initiative to support efforts at slowing deforestation received funding to the tune of $280 million from three countries.

Developed countries couldn’t quite bring themselves to say more than they would be willing to ‘contribute’ to emission cuts, rather than ‘commit’ to them.

Mainly, the nations who use the most keep insisting that change will be slow, and expensive.

Developing countries requested the twenty developed nations which have contributed to and profited most from the fossil fuel economy to pledge funds to mitigate, adapt and readjust this economy and its effects.

Amounts requested were between $70 billion per year by 2016, or  $100 billion by 2020.

Meanwhile, an editorial piece by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in the New York Times today states that the developed countries currently subsidize the fossil fuel economy to the tune of $485 billion.

That’s $485 billion every single year.

Not all expensive habits are worth keeping.

So here’s hoping that even a drop in the bucket will create enough ripples to make a change.

Input and Loss

/ PK Read / 2 Comments

At the UNFCCC COP19 in Warsaw this week, a new programme was launched under the auspices of the World Bank: The BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL).

The initial funding amount is set at $280 million USD. Norway has pledged up to $135 million to the initiative, Britain $120 million and the United States $25 million. The fund also hopes to attract further private and public funding.

I thought it would be an interesting exercise to use the Global Forest Change tool released this week to look at forest change in each of the contributing countries, also in relation to their contribution to this new initiative.

Forest change Norway 2000-2012. The blue and red colors indicate net forest gain and loss, respectively. The colors here are almost exclusively seen on the Swedish side of the border. Norway does not rank among the top 50 nations in terms of deforestation, Sweden ranks 13th. Image via Global Forest Change / Earth Energy Partners

Forest change Norway 2000-2012. The blue and red colors indicate net forest gain and loss, respectively. The colors here are almost exclusively seen on the Swedish side of the border. Norway does not rank among the top 50 nations in terms of deforestation, Sweden ranks 13th.
Image via Global Forest Change / Earth Engine Partners

With a goal of encouraging reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the land sector, including REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), ISFL is intended to “help countries identify and promote climate-smart agricultural and low-carbon land-use practices in selected geographical areas where agriculture is a major cause of deforestation.”

The deforestation culprit in question is, by and large, commercial agriculture in regions including Latin America; subsistence and commercial agriculture contribute equally to an estimated two-thirds of deforestation in other areas like Africa and subtropical Asia.

The initiative sets itself the task of “adopting a landscape approach, (which) means implementing a development strategy that is climate smart, equitable, productive and profitable at scale and strives for environmental, social, and economic impact.”

Forest change in the United Kingdom 2000-2012, which is not among the top 50 nations in terms of forest loss. Image via Global Forest Change / Earth Energy Partners

Forest change in the United Kingdom 2000-2012, which is not among the top 50 nations in terms of forest loss.
Image via Global Forest Change / Earth Energy Partners

Measures include “protecting forests, restoring degraded lands, enhancing agricultural productivity, and improving livelihoods and local environments.”

According to this Reuters article, one of the key problems faced by initiatives seeking to reduce deforestation is that “parties are focusing all their energy arguing about the politics of who governs REDD+ finance, when the real issue is a lack of demand.”

This is according to Matt Leggett, head of policy at forest think-tank Global Canopy Programme, who also stated that “the program must create demand for nearly 1.5 billion tones of carbon dioxide equivalent to cut deforestation by half, but current projects are only set to cut emissions by 160 million tones.”

Forest change in the United States 2000-2012. The US ranks 3rd globally in terms of net forest loss. Image via Global Forest Change / Earth Energy Partners

Forest change in the United States 2000-2012. The US ranks 3rd globally in terms of net forest loss. (Canada ranks 4th.)
Image via Global Forest Change / Earth Energy Partners

Pocket of Protest

/ PK Read / Leave a comment

We were in Trondheim, Norway, last week – the third largest city in the country. It’s a tidy collection of picturesque wood houses, some modern developments that blend in well to the existing architecture and environment – and then this small stretch of alternative existence between a posh harbor development, an industrial area of what used to be WWII submarine docks, and a natural park. It came as a bit of a surprise – a sort of free-wheeling, politico-enviro encampment that resonated of the 1970s and early 80s.

The ‘environmental experiment’ known as the Reina area is co-administered by the self-named Svartla’mon residents and the city itself. Lots of shared urban gardening in the more private space behind this row of 19th-century buildings, lots of activist shops and cafés tucked here and there, a free shop (Gratisbutikken) and a large anarchic-looking playground/kindergarten that reminded me a bit of my own early childhood in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury.

Alternative neighborhood, Trondheim, Norway Photo: PK Read

Alternative neighborhood, Trondheim, Norway
Photo: PK Read

At the end of the street, just before the neighborhood morphed suddenly into a large natural park, was this piece of wall art which I imagine is a statement on plastic, consumer goods, recyclability, as well as being a good signpost to the pocket protest area itself.

Recycled wall. Trondheim, Norway Photo: PK Read

Recycled wall. Trondheim, Norway
Photo: PK Read

A couple of close-ups:

Recycled wall detail. Trondheim, Norway Photo: PK Read

Recycled wall detail. Trondheim, Norway
Photo: PK Read

We noticed that none of the items were spray-painted – they were ordered by their original colors. A nice, sassy installation. I particularly liked the bathroom segment below, including the plastic soap holder, as well as the old typewriter above, very similar to the one I learned on myself.

Recycled wall detail. Trondheim, Norway Photo: PK Read

Recycled wall detail. Trondheim, Norway
Photo: PK Read

A ten-minute hike from this area, the Lade neighborhood looks like this:

Lade Walk. Trondheim, Norway Photo: PK Read

Lade Walk. Trondheim, Norway
Photo: PK Read

An abrupt transition, but no less interesting.

Northern Cable

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Two cables, actually.

One was the tram line that claims to be the northernmost tram in the world. It’s the last remnant of what used to be a network of city trams established in the early 20th century.

I have a soft spot for trams – when I was a child in San Francisco, the cable car lines still covered much of the city, and hadn’t yet become short-distance rides for visitors. Trams are (compared to cars and buses) a fairly quiet and efficient way to manage public transportation. It’s too bad that in Trondheim, as in most other modern cities, tram lines were demolished in favor of buses during the car-happy 1950s and 1960s. The level of new investment and urban disruption necessary to re-establish these lines tends to be prohibitive.

The Trondheim Tram, known as the Gråkallbanen, runs 8.8 km, from St. Olav's Gate to Lian in Bymarka. Photo: PK Read

The Trondheim Tram, known as the Gråkallbanen, runs 8.8 km, from St. Olav’s Gate to Lian in Bymarka.
Photo: PK Read

The Gråkallbanen line, which was supposed to start just a couple of blocks from our hotel, is under renovation. After three-quarters of an hour languishing at a ghost tram stop featuring a plausible-looking schedule, a friendly local informed us and two other eager tram-takers that the closest working tram stop was a ten-minute walk away – also, that the next tram was due to arrive in eight minutes. Four of us sprinted, three of us just caught a tram that was leaving, and I still feel badly about leaving one of our fellow travelers behind (even if she did heroically wave me on towards the waiting tram).

Map of Trondheim seen in the window of a second-hand bookshop. The view from the tram line is the same perspective as seen in this map, just a few centuries later. Photo: PK Read

Map of Trondheim (dated 1674) seen in the window of a second-hand bookshop. The view from the tram line is the same perspective as seen in this map, just a few centuries later.
Photo: PK Read

The tram rattles along at an alarming pace, up through Trondheim suburbs of wood houses in cheerful colours, then sparsely populated outskirts, and finally into a nearby forested recreational area, the Bymarka Park. After congratulating ourselves on our safe arrival, we went for a long hike along one of the many pilgrimage paths that originally date from Norway’s Iron Age, and are noted from the 10th century onward as either the King’s Road or St. Olav’s Way .

Trail marker for St. Olav's path. Photo: PK Read

Trail marker for St. Olav’s path.
Photo: PK Read

Technically we were marching in the wrong direction, away from the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, the  destination of pilgrims visiting the tomb of St. Olav.

Nidaros Cathedral Photo: PK Read

Nidaros Cathedral
Photo: PK Read

Reaching our own destination, a small lake marked on our map, we were greeted by something unexpected: A bus stop, as well as around 100 new university students celebrating the beginning of the school year with a weekend of camping. We decided to skip the return hike in order to see where the bus might take us, and ended up seeing several more lakes and a different side of Trondheim.

A lake of the Bymarka, Trondheim in the distance. Photo: PK Read

A lake of the Bymarka, Trondheim in the distance.
Photo: PK Read

The other northern cable is something completely new to me. The sign for the CycloCable, located at the bottom of Brubakken hill, claims that it’s the only ‘Bike Lift’ in the world. It’s a contraption that pushes bike riders up the steep hill that leads to a part of Trondheim that includes the city’s old fortress, the university, and some very nice neigborhoods.

Bike lift track. A small support that looks a bit like a shark fin emerges, and can be used as a support for the right foot to push a bike rider (and bike) up the hill. Photo: PK Read

CycloCable bike lift track. A small support that looks a bit like a shark fin emerges, and can be used as a support for the right foot to push a bike rider (and bike) up the hill.
Photo: PK Read

The lift, which is free of charge, is intended to inspire those who would like to ride bikes but are intimidated by that particular hill. The initial version, Trampe, was in operation for almost twenty years before being updated last year by the CycloCable. There were a lot of takers – but we watched at least half the aspiring lift-takers give up and push rather than figure out how to use the device.

A bicyclist takes the easy way up. Photo: PK Read

A bicyclist takes the easy way up.
Photo: PK Read

I’m not sure how popular bike lifts might be elsewhere, but they do seem to be making a huge effort to encourage bicycle use here.

Bicycle helmets line a fence along a hiking path. No cycles or cyclists in sight. Photo: PK Read

Bicycle helmets line a fence along a Trondheim hiking path. Strangely, there were no cycles or cyclists in sight.
Photo: PK Read

More:

Trampe (CycloCable) website

Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) – A thorough article by an Australian group that discusses the efficiency of tram use versus cars, trains and buses.

Northbound Spirits

/ PK Read / Leave a comment

I’m back from a great trip to Trondheim, Norway, the furthest north I’ve ever been. The unexpected cancelled flights and lost luggage of the first days were more than made up for by stellar weather, a picturesque Nordic town, forested vistas and long hikes.

Trondheimsfjord, seen from the Lade Walk. Photo: PK Read

Trondheimsfjord, seen from the Lade Walk.
Photo: PK Read

We found a retro pub by the river, right next to the Old Bridge, a book lined den of live music, readings and conversation.

Inside the Antikvarietat on the Verftsgate. Photo: PK Read

Inside the Antikvarietat on the Verftsgate.
Photo: PK Read

The front part had snacks, cakes and light dishes, but the rear bar had a fairly extensive of Norwegian artisanal beers. I tried one, an India Pale Ale by Fyr & Flamme. And a bit of Linie Aquavit, that Norwegian spirit that is only sold once it has been sent on a ship in oak sherry casks from Norway to Australia and back, thus crossing the ‘line’ of the equator. I had my first taste of Linie back in my early twenties, and none since – it tastes just as good as I remember. Don’t know why we don’t have it more often. Potato-based and flavored with caraway, this particular aquavit has a nice richness compared to the others we tried on the trip, which were (for me) basically just strong shots of liquor. I’m open to being told otherwise.

Photo: PK Read

Fyr & Flamme, Linie Aquavit.
Photo: PK Read

Now, I know I usually focus on champagne and whisky, and truly, I am not much of a beer drinker, but the Fyr & Flamme (“Fire & Flame’) IPA was a fine drink by any measure. It was like a foamy, rich, malty glass of liquified pine forest. So much flavor, so varied and complex and herbal. Apparently, three different hops are imported from the USA to make this beer, so I suppose it’s not entirely ‘local’. And while I won’t be giving up my champagne any time soon, I would be open to other kinds of bubbly like this IPA.

Good whiskies and champagnes were available at some of the bars and restaurants we visited, but at prices so astronomical that it was a bit off-putting. I wasn’t able to locate any locally-produced whisky – I’d be interested to hear from anyone who knows something about Norwegian whisky production.

The Arctic Circle is only 500 km to the north, but we didn’t have time to cross that line on this trip. Ideally, I’d like to hop on a boat and head up through the Lofoten Islands and then northwards. After this visit, I am sure we’ll be back for more. And I’ll be writing more about it this week.

The banks of the Nidelva. Photo: PK Read

The banks of the Nidelva.
Photo: PK Read