Espen Barth Eide: Why Norway's Oil Wealth Isn't a Contradiction
Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Espen Barth Eide, was one of three speakers who took the stage at Arendalsuka's kick-off event hosted by Global Outlook Norway. Minutes before he addressed the audience, we caught up with him backstage to answer a few pressing questions pertaining to the event's theme, Rebooting Democracy for a New World.
Watch the Global Outlook 2026 here:
Espen, you've held Norway's climate, defence, and foreign affairs briefs plus led divided island reunification talks at the U.N. What's the common thread between these roles?
International relations require one to take on many roles. It's about defence and security, and the common thread is problem solving through democracy and diplomacy.
Beyond conflict and diplomacy, what other kinds of problems does that logic apply to?
International relations are also about how to deal with our common challenges in nature and climate. As a foreign minister, I'm very eager to underline that you must work with two types of questions that are both between countries or between humans in the world today.
Then, we have the collective challenges about how to take care of our one planet.
And how does today's geopolitical tension affect the bandwidth countries have left to take care of our planet?
The more time spent on wars, the less time is freed up for the real global issues that should be dealt with, which are climate and nature.
Norway is pushing a green transition agenda while running a major oil and gas economy. How do you reconcile the two on the international stage?
I don't view this reality as a problem. I see it as a positive that a major oil-producing country is so dedicated to energy transition. Not only the desire, but also the practicalities of transitioning from a predominantly fossil fuel to a predominantly emissions-free energy system.
Norway is one of the most electrified countries in the world and we've largely made the transition to a low-emissions economy at home. However the world is still importing oil and gas because during the transition, people and countries still need fossil resources.
In this current time, when many countries try to avoid buying from Russia, I believe it's important that we can still provide while at the same time being totally committed to the energy transition and to the frameworks established in The Paris Agreement.