The cousin of Norway's environment minister goes on hunger strike against oil

CopenhagenThe last meal eaten by climate activist Vebjørn Bjelland Berg, cousin of Norwegian Environment Minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, was five weeks ago. Since then, he has been on hunger strike to demand that Norway end the exploitation of its gas and oil fields, which have made the Nordic country one of the richest in the world.

The activist plans to break his protest fast on September 8, the day of Norway's parliamentary elections. To make his demands more visible, he is camped in downtown Oslo, in front of the Parliament, despite police having twice attempted to evict him by confiscating his tent and equipment.

Berg, 29, laments that despite being a relative of a member of the government, he has not yet been able to speak with anyone from the executive branch after publicly requesting an interview with Social Democrat Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Strøre. "They must be afraid of someone who hasn't eaten for a month," Berg jokes in a telephone interview with ARA.

In the last week of the protest, Berg assures that he is physically fine. "But in recent days, I've been noticing that hunger is affecting my mental health a little," he says. "Words are no longer enough to convey the urgency of the climate situation the planet is in, and that's why I've decided to risk my life," he explains, hoping the message will reach his cousin and the 3.8 million Norwegians eligible to vote in the elections.

Berg is calling on Norwegian politicians to develop a plan to gradually phase out hydrocarbon production and abandon its position as the world's fourth-largest exporter of natural gas and the eighth-largest oil seller: "I'm not asking for the oil industry to be halted tomorrow; that would be a shock for Norway to remain in for years to come." He believes that "it's not a utopian or radical idea, it's simply necessary."

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia, Norway has also become the main gas supplier to the European Union. This has further boosted the profits of the oil industry, which fuel investments by Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund, which guarantees the country's pensions and is currently worth €1.67 trillion, the richest in the world. "I think it's extremely immoral," Berg criticizes. "We are getting richer by burning the planet just because we are an even more immensely rich country."

"We are already an extraordinarily rich country, and that gives us the economic flexibility to stop exploiting the oil industry, because we would still be a rich country without oil and gas. However, the government has decided it wants to continue exploiting the fields," she denounces.

An issue outside the political agenda

According to opinion polls, many Norwegians share Berg's need to gradually abandon oil, although in next Monday's elections few political parties are willing to negotiate a timetable to make this possible. According to the Social Democrats' electoral program, the party defends that the oil industry "must be developed, not dismantled," in order to reduce CO₂ emissions by 2030, until becoming a carbon-neutral country by 2050. Other parties, such as the Conservatives or the right-wing populist party, want to find new deposits in the future." Only the Greens, which in the last elections won 3 of the 169 deputies in the Parliament, wants to abandon hydrocarbon extraction within fifteen years.

With this panorama, Berg is very critical of the lack of ambition regarding climate policies of his country's politicians: "I am very disappointed in my cousin." The two cousins survived together the terrorist attack on Utøya Island that traumatized the country fourteen years ago. In the attack, the far-right extremist Anders Breivik He shot dead 69 young people and injured 100 others during a meeting of the Labour Party's youth wing (AUF), of which Berg and Eriksen were members.

Before starting the hunger strike, the activist explains that he told his cousin about his intentions: "He tried to get me to back down by saying that he cared too much about my health, and I believe him because I love him despite any disagreements we may have." In fact, Berg says that once the elections are over and the protest is over, he is looking forward to "spending an afternoon with Andreas playing PlayStation and eating pizza, like we used to do when we were growing up together; after that, we'll have time to talk about serious things."