STATEMENT
UPR47
Review of Norway
4 November 2024
Statement delivered by Legal Adviser Ingrid HVIDSTEN, Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
Securing a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
Check against delivery
Thank you, ambassador. My name is Ingrid Hvidsten, I am a legal adviser in the Ministry of Justice and public security.
We thank the countries who have given us the opportunity to reflect on Norway’s commitment to securing a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, which is a necessary precondition for the enjoyment of human rights for present and future generations.
Norway co-sponsored Human Rights Council resolution 48/13 and voted for UNGA resolution 76/300 recognising the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right, while underlining that the recognition through these resolutions is purely political.
Norway is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights and to most of the Core International Human Rights Instruments of the UN, and is fully committed to implement and apply them.
Section 112 of the Norwegian Constitution sets out a right for “every person to an environment that is conducive to health and to a natural environment whereby productivity and diversity are maintained”. This provision reflects an obligation for national authorities to implement policies and measures that ensure a healthy and good environment, and to assess and take into account environmental impacts in their decision-making.
I would like to give some specific examples on how the Government is working to secure the right to a clean and healthy environment:
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- The Government in September 2024 presented a white paper on sustainable use and conservation of nature to the Parliament. The paper includes an action plan for biodiversity to follow up the goals and targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
- We are working to improve our climate policies on a yearly basis. Every autumn the Government presents a new climate status and plan. The latest one was presented in October, and sets out a strengthened climate policy for next year in several areas.
- The Government’s proposal for a new climate target for 2035 was recently sent on public consultation. The new target will be presented in spring of 2025, together with a new climate action plan for achieving the target.
- The Government aims to present a proposal for new food waste legislation to the Parliament in the spring of 2025. The Government, together with the food industry, has set as an aim to halve food waste in Norway. These measures will not only save resources, but have been estimated to produce emission reductions corresponding to 1.2 million tons of CO2 equivalents by 2030.
- The Government in September 2024 presented a white paper on sustainable use and conservation of nature to the Parliament. The paper includes an action plan for biodiversity to follow up the goals and targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Norway participates in ongoing work in the Council of Europe on human rights and the environment, including a recent recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member States. This inter alia recommends that member states reflect on the nature, content and implications of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and on that basis actively consider recognizing at the national level this right as a human right that is important for the enjoyment of human rights and is
related to other rights and existing international law.
I will now address some of the recommendations received on other topics.
President,
Several countries have recommended amending the definition of rape.
- In 2021 the Ministry of Justice and Public Security commissioned the Criminal Law Council to conduct a comprehensive review of the Penal Code’s chapter on sexual offences, and propose a regulation that safeguards the individual’s right to sexual self-determination and other fundamental requirements to the legislation in the field of criminal law.
- The commission recommended several changes, inter alia a new provision that includes the actions currently covered by the rape provision, as well as situations where someone engages in sexual intercourse or activities “with a person who does not want to, and who expresses this in words or actions”.
- The report was sent on public consultation in 2023. The government is currently considering the proposal in light of the written submissions. The Ministry plan to submit a proposition to Parliament relatively soon.
President,
Norway upholds its decision not to ratify the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
- The background for the decision was that the convention reiterates provisions from other conventions that Norway has ratified, including other UN human rights conventions and the ILO’s core conventions on workers’ rights.
- The wording of the Migrant Workers Convention is considered vague and imprecise on several points, making it difficult to clarify the consequences and obligations that ratification would entail.
- No new factors have emerged that provide grounds to change this decision.
- Norway’s ratification of other UN human rights conventions and the ILO’s core conventions means that Norwegian authorities are obliged to ensure the rights in these conventions for all residents in Norway, including foreign nationals.
President,
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights is incorporated into Norwegian law through the Human Rights Act, and thereby takes precedence over other Norwegian laws in the event of conflict. This gives economic, social and cultural rights a strong position in Norwegian law.
Thank you.