Norway: The Debbie Downer of the Paris Climate Talks

In an unprecedented move for a country for whom human rights is a key foreign policy priority, the country is now standing with Saudi Arabia in opposing the effective protection of human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples, gender equality and just transition of the workforce.
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Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende delivers a speech during the 'Arctic/Svalbard' presentation at the COP21 UN climate change conference in Le Bourget, northeast of Paris, on December 5, 2015. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS SAMSON / AFP / THOMAS SAMSON (Photo credit should read THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)
Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende delivers a speech during the 'Arctic/Svalbard' presentation at the COP21 UN climate change conference in Le Bourget, northeast of Paris, on December 5, 2015. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS SAMSON / AFP / THOMAS SAMSON (Photo credit should read THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)

This week, Oslo prepares to award the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor bestowed upon champions of human rights. Meanwhile, at the Paris climate talks, the Norwegian government is quietly advancing a starkly different agenda. In an unprecedented move for a country for whom human rights is a key foreign policy priority, the country is now standing with Saudi Arabia in opposing the effective protection of human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples, gender equality and just transition of the workforce.

Norway's opposition comes as one of the biggest surprises of the climate talks.

By way of background, climate change adversely impacts the human rights of millions. It impacts the right to water in Kenya, the right to food for the Inuit across the Arctic, and right to housing for those displaced by sea level rise in the Marshall Islands. It affects vulnerable people; women are hit first and worst. In the lead-up to Paris, a growing coalition of countries and civil society had banded together ensure that climate policies protect human rights. Last Thursday, in light of the hundreds of thousands of peoples going hungry, thirsty and homeless as a result of climate change, the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights issued an urgent appeal: states must act now.

But the next day, the largest civil society network at the Paris climate talks, CAN International, awarded Norway with the anti-award, the Fossil of the Day, for most proactively blocking negotiation towards a fair and ambitious agreement.

Norway's uncompromising position -- to park human rights in the preamble of the agreement -- represents an affront to the suffering of these people. As any international lawyer will tell you: the value of the preamble pales in comparison to the value of placement in the operative text. That's why countries like the Philippines, who are already experiencing the severe effects of climate change, are advocating for human rights protections in the operative text.

This Thursday, I will watch the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony from the Paris climate talks. As the award is announced in Oslo, what agenda will Norway advance in the climate talks? Will they continue to stand with Saudi Arabia to undermine the human rights of peoples across the globe, including women, workers, and indigenous peoples? Or will they return to the world stage as a true champion of human rights?

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