THE POPULATION OF Norway is less than 5 million. Norway emits only 0.2 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. However, greenhouse gas emissions increased approximately 10 percent 1990–2004. According to modeling scenarios, Norway will experience a 1.2 percent increase in yearly temperature degrees C compared to 1980–2000. Northern Norway will experience the highest yearly increase compared to other regions of the country. Norway has ratified the Kyoto Protocol and committed to stabilizing emissions at 1 percent above the 1990 emission level. Without new measures, emissions are expected to increase to 22 percent above the Kyoto commitment 1990–2010.

In the early 1990s, Norway began introducing policies to control greenhouse gas emissions. One of the first measures was a tax on carbon dioxide emissions introduced in 1991. Greenhouse ...