Is Norway on the pathway to a Green Economy? : evidence on decoupling between GDP and environmental pressure

Abstract

Since the 1970s’, the concepts of ecological limits, environmental impacts, and human pressure have been central in the debate over the relationship between economic growth and the environment. Green Growth advocates argue that economic growth boosts technological development, which will allow economic activity to decouple from environmental impact through resource substitution and efficiency. In this research, we use data published by Statistics Norway to investigate if Norwegian economic growth has been decoupling from energy use, GHG emissions, and material consumption. We found that there have been efficiency improvements for energy and GHG emissions, but no absolute decoupling for any of the indicators, and less so a sufficient absolute decoupling to meet global sustainability targets. Overall environmental pressure is increasing in Norway, and per capita consumption and pollution are way above what is considered sustainable.