Unpacking the Norwegian paradox

Abstract

Fossil energy is the primary driver of global warming, the 2021 IPCC report establishes once and for all that human activity is changing the climate in unprecedented ways. Calls for action have included appeals to fossil fuel-producing countries to end further oil and gas development and start the transition to renewable energy. In Norway, one of the world’s top producers of oil and gas, the IPCC report was published during the parliamentary election campaign and brought the question of the future of oil and gas to the forefront of both political and public debate. This master thesis examines newspaper articles in Norway's most popular newspapers in the run-up to the parliamentary election in 2021in order to uncover discourses present in the debate, the order of those discourses, and if the dominating discourse is challenged in a meaningful way. Through qualitative critical discourse analysis, the results reveal that the established narrative of “oil as the solution, not the problem” is still dominating the debate but is challenged in meaningful ways by dissenting voices, namely environmental organizations and “green” politicians.