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Geopolitics

Norway, Aiming To Be The World's Most Ethical Petro Power

Norway, Aiming To Be The World's Most Ethical Petro Power
Antoine Jacob

OSLO — It’s still too early to predict how Norway’s Prime Minister-elect Erna Solberg, who was elected earlier this month, will tweak the oil policy developed by outgoing Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. During his eight-year tenure — even as Norway was in the process of building its wealth — the government adopted standards for managing its oil savings ethically and for aiding other oil-producing countries.

Norway famously chose not to invest any oil funds in businesses that did not respect these standards. By the end of 2012, Norway had boycotted 55 companies for forced labor, child labor, environmental damages and corruption allegations. Those companies that chose to modify their practices were considered again as partners. “Norwegian opinion upholds the responsible use of funding,” the Ministry of Finance has stated.

Norway is, in fact, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, boasting $784 billion in savings, or 1.25% of the global market capital. This prosperity is thanks, of course, to the oil trade and coastal oil extraction that has multiplied since the 1970s, with revenues held in funds abroad and managed by the central bank.

Solberg, who will take office next month, will have her work cut out for her to gain a significant majority among the various factions in Norway’s Parliament. She’ll need to pacify and form a coalition with the Progress Party, which hopes to direct annual profits from Norway’s oil wealth into the national budget.

So far, Solberg’s Conservative Party has balked at that idea. Like the Labor Party before it, its members feel that drawing more funds from the country’s considerable wealth would overstimulate the domestic economy. More importantly, they are looking toward the eventuality of depleted oil reserves, and want to manage savings such that Norway can provide for its citizens when the oil wealth dries up.

The Norwegian aid given to other oil-producing nations is another significant part of her predecessor’s policies. “We advise less-informed countries on market regulations and their options when dealing with multinational corporations,” says Petter Stigset, who works within the Norwegian public service program called Norad that deals in foreign aid and development.

“We aim to help countries develop a legislative framework before they go ahead and sign oil trade agreements,” he says. The program also helps build awareness among state employees, NGOs and journalists on the topic of oil wealth management.

“Norway’s government has developed standards that have been exemplary in dealing with petrol ethics,” says Swede Jonas Moberg, secretary of the Oslo-based Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. “Norway has become a center of expertise in dealing with the management of mineral resources.”

Unfortunately, these policies can have their complications. “We are aware that we can serve as a mere pretext for authorities in some countries,” Stigset says. Additionally, his program plays a role in countries where Statoil, a Norwegian state oil company, also has commercial interests. Each organization claims strict autonomy, but how can they really separate their interests?

Environmental concerns have been grafted onto this debate about oil policy. “If Norway can plan a smooth transition to an era of renewable energies, it can truly claim to be ethical,” says Arild Hermstadt, head of the NGO The Future In Our Hands. “But the country continues to invest huge sums to discover new deposits.”

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Geopolitics

Yes, Xi Jinping Is Now More Powerful Than Mao Zedong Ever Was

After being re-elected as head of the Communist Party last year, the Chinese leader has been unanimously re-elected to another five-year term as head of state. Now, wielding more power than any other past Chinese communist leader, he wants to accelerate the rise of Chinese influence around the world.

Photo of huge portrait of Xi Jinping

Huge portrait of Xi Jinping is displayed in the National Day mass pageantry celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China

Yann Rousseau

-Analysis-

BEIJING — Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has been re-elected to a third five-year term at the head of the world's second largest economic power. Nobody was surprised.

The vote took place during a legislative assembly convened to rubber stamp decisions of the authoritarian power, during which 2,952 parliamentarians unanimously approved Xi's re-election before rising, in perfect choreography, to offer a prolonged standing ovation to their leader. As usual, Xi remained completely neutral in the face of the enthusiasm.

His victory was a mere formality after his re-election last fall as the head of the all-powerful party, which controls all of the country's political institutions, and after legislative amendments to erase term limits that would have forced him out.

Xi Jinping, who took over the presidency in 2013, "is now the most powerful leader in the history of the People's Republic, since its founding in 1949. Institutionally, he holds even more power than Mao Zedong," says Suisheng Zhao, a professor and Chinese foreign policy expert at the University of Denver.

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