Statoil is headquartered in Stavanger, Oil Capital of Norway. Flickr/Bruce Tuten. Some rights reserved.Last week marked the launch of a book that has been a long time in the making in Norway. With the title “The Bridge to the Future” (Broen til framtiden), it brings together representatives of an unprecedented movement - built through many years of patient collaboration between environmental organisations, trade unions and forces within the state church - for 100,000 climate jobs.
These green jobs are seen as bridges; between the immediate needs we have for secure, decent work and the needs of all life on the planet to avert climate catastrophe; and, crucially, between Norway’s oil addiction and a sustainable future.
The book is therefore not an end goal or a history of past events. It’s another step along a long road towards a common goal: a just transition to a sustainable society. Nonetheless, this transformation is grounded in the best of Norway’s past - workers’ organisation at the grass roots, workers’ rights, active social movement participation in shaping politics, and a strong state role in guaranteeing welfare.
