Climate neutrality does not mean that Norway will cease to release greenhouse gases. Instead, it intends to achieve the noble goal of zero net contributions to carbon emissions, Norway, a major oil producer, will have to purchase so-called carbon offsets abroad. The offsets include investments in environmental projects that decrease carbon emissions into the atmosphere through reforestation, improving energy efficiency or switching to cleaner power.
Ironically, Norway's environmental efforts have been met with scathing criticism from no other than Climate and Environment Minister Vidar Helgesen, who in a letter to parliament, branded the initiative premature and costly, saying the price could be as much as 20 billion kroner (2.4 billion dollars) per year in 2030.
In 2008, Norway set the date for reaching carbon neutrality in 2030, but pushed the deadline back to 2050, following the failure of the UN's climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009. The climate deal, reached in Paris in 2015, however, finally resuscitated the 2030 objective.