At a signing ceremony in Beijing today, the government of Norway—which, against the international trend, is continuing to expand its cooperation with China—pledged USD 1 million to support two environment sector projects jointly developed by the UN Development Programme and China’s State Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

Half of the funding will support an Environmental Awareness Programme to promote mass media campaigns—including public service announcements via broadcast media and cellphones, as well as feature and documentary reporting—together with efforts to build the public outreach and campaigning capacity of Chinese environmental NGOs. The project, launched in June, also has a funding contribution of USD 0.5 million each from UNDP and SEPA and USD 2 million from the European steel maker, Arcelor.

The remainder of the Norwegian grant funds will top up a China Biodiversity Partnership Framework programme that comprises a mix of projects to test biodiversity management strategies, establish joint stakeholder platforms for policy formulation and implementation, and lead towards a comprehensive biodiversity conservation framework. Due to start full implementation in 2007, the programme has already received European Union funding of EUR 49 million (currently USD 62 million).

Norwegian Minister for the Environment, Ms. Helen Oddveig Bjornoy, who is currently visiting China, has also signed agreements with SEPA for two new, bilateral technical assistance projects. An NOK 12.5 million (USD 1.9 million) grant will support investigation and abatement of mercury pollution, and an NOK 14.5 million (USD 2.2 million) project will support safe disposal of hazardous wastes, exploring the possibility of incinerating wastes to provide energy for cement plants.

Norway’s cooperation with China, which is largely concentrated in the environment sector, is expanding modestly, according to a spokesperson for the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Beijing. Past projects have included collaboration with UNDP on climate change and Clean Development Mechanism initiatives. The embassy maintains an on-line listing of current and recently completed projects.

Report by Nick Young, September 29, 2006