Norway Summary

Norway (324,220 sq km; 4,481,162 inhabitants) is a constitutional monarchy. The Ministry of Environment is in charge of developing environmental legislation. Enforcement is the competence of the Pollution Control Authority.

Main environmental policy concerns are water pollution; acid rain damaging forests and adversely affecting lakes, threatening fish stocks, and air pollution from vehicle and industry emissions. Legislative initiatives are taken in the areas of waste and recycling, biodiversity, chemicals, water and air pollution, and environmental impact assessment.