{"id":31306,"date":"2016-09-28T08:50:38","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T07:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=31306"},"modified":"2016-10-03T17:00:13","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T16:00:13","slug":"leading-scientist-tells-norway-to-stop-looking-for-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2016\/09\/28\/leading-scientist-tells-norway-to-stop-looking-for-oil\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it time for Norway to stop looking for oil?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Norway should stop exploring for more oil and gas, leaving it to countries with cheaper reserves or greater development needs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That is what one of the world\u2019s leading researchers of \u201cunburnable carbon\u201d told a conference in Oxford on Monday.<\/p>\n

In the first summit of its kind, experts debated who should have the right to extract fossil fuels within \u201csafe\u201d climate limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf any country in the world needn\u2019t produce its fossil fuel resources, it\u2019s Norway,\u201d said Paul Ekins, professor of resources and environmental policy at UCL.<\/p>\n

Half the world\u2019s proven natural gas reserves and a third of oil needs to stay in the ground to keep global warming to 2C, according to a study Ekins co-authored. It was the most influential climate paper of 2015, according to Carbon Brief analysis<\/a> of news and social media coverage.<\/p>\n

Based on the cost of different supplies, Ekins and colleague Christophe McGlade also estimated how much each region would be able to sell. They judged that Arctic drilling was not viable<\/a> in a 2C scenario, given the high costs of operating in polar conditions.<\/p>\n

Then there is the question of whether poorer countries should be given dispensation to extract more, to redress global inequalities. That is the subject of ongoing research.<\/p>\n

Weekly briefing:<\/strong>\u00a0Sign up for your essential climate politics update<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ekins\u2019 remarks come as the wealthy Nordic petrostate, which counts on oil and gas for more than 20% of GDP, reaches a crossroads.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the fall in the oil price, the industry recently has experienced some major problems,\u201d said Bard Lahn, researcher at CICERO, a research institute based in Oslo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could lead the policy discussion in two different directions: either it leads to more support for the oil and gas sector, doubling down on production, or it could lead to a discussion about the transition to a low carbon economy.\u201d<\/p>\n