“It is the world’s poorest who are most vulnerable to the consequences of the climate change”, says Norway’s new Minister of the Environment and Development Cooperation, Erik Solheim (SV).
The previous Minister of International Development Erik Solheim is replacing Minister of the Environment, Helen Bjørnøy (SV), as well as he will continue to carry out the responsibility for development affairs at the Ministry on Foreign Affairs. It is the first time in Norway that a minister will run two ministries at the same time.
Bangladesh. Photo: Scanpix.
"The great project I envisage for Norway in the years to come is to promote combined efforts to meet two of the most formidable challenges of our time: the environmental threat that we are all facing and the totally unacceptable fact that more than one billion people are living in absolute poverty. These two challenges must be addressed together, not separately," said Erik Solheim.
The Norwegian government has not only got a new Minister of Environment and Development Cooperation. A cabinet reshuffle has resulted in several alterations within the government. Minister of Education Øystein Djupedal (SV) is replaced by two ministers, Tora Aasland (AP), Minister in the Ministry of Education, responsible for research and higher education and Bård Vegar Solhjell (SV) is appointed Minister of Education and will deal with education at the lower levels. Ms. Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen (AP) is replacing Karita Bekkemellem as Minister of Children and Equality, as well as she will be responsible for anti-discrimination affairs in the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion.
Solheim at Sri Lanka. Photo: Stein J. Bjørge/ Scanpix