In the case of individuals, decision-making may be simple, but for more complex lists, it generally requires political leadership at the highest level and broad popular support for efforts to be worthwhile. The EU is trying to be climate neutral by 2050, an economy that emits net greenhouse gas emissions to zero. This objective is at the heart of the European Green Agreement and is in line with the EU`s commitment to global climate action under the Paris Agreement. On 19 April 2007, at the labour party`s annual congress, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg announced that by 2012, Norway`s greenhouse gas emissions would fall by 10% from its Kyoto commitment and that the government had agreed to achieve 30% emission reductions by 2020. He also proposed that Norway be CO2 neutral by 2050 and called on other rich countries to do the same. [102] This carbon neutrality would be achieved in part through carbon offsetting, a proposal by Greenpeace that also asked Norway to take responsibility for the 500 million tonnes of emissions generated by its oil and gas exports. [103] Norway`s World Wildlife Fund also considers the purchase of CO2 offsets unacceptable: “It is a political stillborn to believe that China will tacitly accept that Norway will buy climate quotas abroad.” [104] Bellona Foundation, a Norwegian environmental activist, believes that the Prime Minister was forced to act under pressure from anti-EU coalition government members and called the announcement “contentless visions”. [104] In January 2008, the Norwegian government went further and declared that it was carbon neutral by 2030. But the government has not taken a concrete decision on any plans to reduce emissions in its own country; The plan is based on the purchase of CO2 offsets from other countries, and very little has been done to reduce Norway`s emissions, with the exception of a very successful policy for electric vehicles[105] A combination of drought, storms and extreme heat depletes German forests. According to BDF, a forest interest group, more than a million established trees have died in Germany since 2018. “These are no longer unusual weather events.

It`s climate change,” said a BDF representative. Iceland is also moving towards climate neutrality. Iceland generates more than 99% of its electricity from renewable sources, namely hydropower (about 80%), and geothermal energy (about 20%). No other nation uses such a large share of renewable energy sources. [95] More than 99% of electricity generation and nearly 80% of total energy production comes from hydropower and geothermal energy. In February 2008, Costa Rica, Iceland, New Zealand and Norway were the first four to be part of the Climate Neutral Network, an initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to catalyze global action for low-carbon economies and societies. [96] Some examples of companies for self-proclaimed CO2 and climate neutral initiatives are Dell[34] Google,[35][36] HSBC,[37] ING Group,[38] PepsiCo, Sky[39][40] Tesco,[41][42] Toronto-Dominion Bank,[43] Asos[44] and Bank of Montreal. [45] In 2015, following the mandate of the CDM Executive Committee, the UNFCCC launched its own website, on which organizations, businesses, but also individuals, are able to offset their (offset.climateneutralnow.org/) footprint to facilitate everyone`s participation in the process of promoting sustainability.