“Should we get solar panels on the roof?”
We were sitting in a fairly dark house. It was 2022, and Norway was in an electricity crisis. Energy bills were sky-high. And according to experts, it would get worse.
Some houses in our neighbourhood had already installed solar panels. And my better half had been doing the maths: He believed it most definitely would pay – in time – to invest in solar panels. And it is also climate-friendly, he reminded me.
More solar power is definitely important to increase the amount of available renewable energy. More than one government minister has told us as much. Right now, I am thinking of Norway’s Minister of Research and Higher Education Sigrun Aasland (Labour).
She recently helped fund a new trade programme for the solar power sector. When the sector experiences growth, it needs new and up-to-date competencies to face the future.
At our house, we rarely do these kinds of things “overnight”. So that time back in 2022, we vaguely agreed to look around a bit, do some more maths and consider the solar panels on the roof project carefully before making any decisions.
And before we concluded, the government offered its energy support package, and this year it launched Norgespris – a cap on energy bills – to Norwegian households. Energy bills fell, and so did our motivation to find out more about those solar panels.
We were not alone in pushing the idea away, because by the end of 2024, just over 32,000 solar power systems were connected to the grid in Norway, according to the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE).
So, while the trade programme for solar power is getting started, because it seems we need the skills in the long run, hardly anyone wants solar panels on the roof. It does not pay.
As I write this, the 200-odd delegates at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil have agreed on a joint declaration. The difficult issue of phasing out fossil fuels did not make the final draft.
The Nordic Council of Ministers has also been in Brazil. The Nordic pavilion has hosted tens of events. Solutions have been presented and discussions have taken place on how to move forward towards a climate-neutral and sustainable future in line with the Paris Agreement.
Before setting off to Brazil, Sweden’s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Romina Pourmokhtari, said:
“The Nordic countries will tell and show the world that you don’t go bankrupt by choosing the green path – on the contrary.”
The Nordic Labour Journal stayed at home. We have at least saved the climate those long flights. Speaking of staying home – there are high expectations for a new Nordic project focusing on future competence needs in working life, including those linked to the green transition.
It has been commissioned by the committees of senior officials for education and for labour. They are impatient and looking forward to being closely involved in the project – and to receiving the results from the project “Future Skills – Bridging the Competence Gap.”
The fact that sustainability has become a priority for nearly everyone has given more workers new tasks. One of them is Heidi Mølgaard. She is a sustainability consultant for the transport and logistics company Danske Fragtmænd.
She learned the skills to work with the green transition in a business at Det Grønne Akademi (the Green Academy) in Aarhus municipality.
The academy offers “retraining” for highly educated unemployed people to help them find work in sustainability and matches the students with companies that want help with the green transition.
In Sweden, 58 municipalities have collaborated since 2008 in the Klimatkommunerna association.
Evelina Fahlesson is the association’s chair and also a councillor from the Social Democrats in Skellefteå, the municipality that lost out on the big battery fairytale when Northvolt went bankrupt.
But Skellefteå’s residents are not despairing.
“The people of Skellefteå haven’t sunk into despair because of the bankruptcy. If anything, I would say they have become even better ambassadors for the municipality and for future investments,” says Fahlesson.
Back to where I started – the plastic bag I hardly ever buy anymore. For me, it has become a symbol of the unnecessary plastic we see in, for instance, supermarket food wrapping.
When I shop, I use reusable bags, also for fruit and veg. If I forget, I punish myself by shopping less, I cram my handbag and rucksack to the brim, and I have my hands full of shopping as I leave the supermarket. Sometimes things fall to the floor…
I definitely do not buy plastic bags. They have also become extremely expensive.
From 1 April this year, the plastic bag charge has been 4 kroner (€0.35) per bag. It is paid by member shops to Handelens Miljøfond (the Retailers’ Environmental Fund). The money is used for measures to reduce plastic consumption and plastic pollution.
According to Handelens Miljøfond, plastic bag use in Norway has halved since 2016. The EU requirement is max 40 bags per person per year by the end of 2025.
At my local shop, a plastic bag costs nearly seven Norwegian kroner (€0.60). Why pay that when you can save the money and the climate in one fell swoop?
Putting a price on the climate really does make a difference.
Happy reading!
