Sustainable development

Oslo Green Capital
Oslo has presented its candidature for the jury for the contest for the European Green Capital Award in Brussels, and awaits the jury’s decision together with the 7 other finalists. The jury’s decision will be made public during the award ceremony in Brussels February 23 rd.

- Oslo’s strength is our strong blue-green profile, our working environment management system and our active engagement in improving the city’s urban ecology, says Guttorm Grundt, Environmental Affairs Coordinator of Oslo.

- But each of the finalists has their own special strengths and characters, so I should think the jury certainly has quite a challenge choosing the best one, Grundt says.

Read more about the award contest at European Green Capital  

See Oslo’s application and final presentation  

Oslo joins the Cities of the future Programme
Oslo has joined the national programme “Cities of the future” together with the 12 other largest Norwegian cities.

The programme has been initiated by the Ministry of Environment as a response to the larger cities’ demand for closer cooperation to fight climate gas emissions in the cities and improve the urban environment.  

- The programme gives us the opportunity to engage the state in binding cooperation to solve concrete climate and environmental challenges in Oslo to meet the City Council’s ambitious goal of reducing climate gas emissions in the city by 50 % within 2030,  says Tore Leite, Special Advisor on Climate issues in the Department of Environment and Transport.

He also says that the goal cannot be met without a more favourable legal framework or stronger economic incentives than todays. 

Guide:
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improving Air Quality in Oslo, describes actions to be taken in the Oslo region to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality. It adresses two different environmental challenges, but the emission sources, solutions and measures are broadly similar.

Guide to a Green Capital
Guide to a Green Capital: Eco-efficiency in the city of Oslo, describes the cities effort in implementing Environmental Management. It is a step-by-step guide for the municipal units, and also contains good examples.  

  Environmental and sustainability situation
Oslo has formulated a concrete policy designed to look after the city's environmental qualities and to meet the challenges involved in ensuring a better environment and a sustainable development in the years to come.

Read more about the City of Oslo's policy in report no. 1/2003 to the City Council "Strategy for Sustainable Development" with Urban Ecology Programme.

European Sustainable City Award
Oslo received The European Sustainable City Award 2003. The competition is arranged by The European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign and the prize was handed out on the 5th June by Margot Wallstrom, the European Commissioner for the Environment.

Read Oslos application for the prize.  Oslo has drawn up its own Environment and Sustainability Report, which reveals that the Oslo environment is constantly improving, but that the city continues to face many challenges when it comes to sustainable development.

Click to read more about Oslo's environmental and sustainability situation in our CEROI report (Cities Environment Reports on the Internet): "Environment and Sustainability Status".