Norway on Wednesday appointed the prime minister’s chief of staff, Vidar Helgesen, as its new climate change minister in a Cabinet reshuffle that saw former climate minister Tine Sundtoft left out in the cold.
The move came just days after Sundtoft helped pull off the Paris climate change agreement by co-chairing a facilitator group on long-term ambition at the UN talks.
Helgesen has been Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s chief of staff since October 2013 as well as the minister for European Economic Area and EU affairs, and as such is well versed in Norway’s integration in the European emissions trading system.
Like his predecessor, Helgesen represents the Conservative party. Sundtoft was not offered a new ministerial post after the reshuffle.
By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com
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