“We Must Become Less Dependent on Fossil Fuels”

"We do not choose our geography," said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor) when he opened Exercise North (Øvelse Nord) in Bodø, Northern Norway.

He continued by explaining that Norway is influenced by its neighborhood with Russia.

"We must be able to face challenges that arise as the years go by, and they have varied from great opportunities for cooperation across country borders to what has developed into an authoritarian Russia, a totalitarian and militarized regime in Europe."

Great power rivalry

The auditorium at Nord University in Bodø was packed to the brim by uniformed military personnel, students, researchers, university employees, media, and others interested in security and preparedness, as the prime minister opened the first part of the preparedness forum Exercise North.

There is little to remind us of war, crises, and natural disasters on what is expected to be the last of an unusually long series of sunny days at 67 degrees north.

But the fact is that little Norway finds itself in a tense geopolitical situation in which great power rivalry characterizes the Arctic. With the Ukrainian ambassador to Norway, Oleksiy Gavrysh, in the audience, Støre made it clear that we must look to Ukraine to learn about preparedness in crises and war.

"Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and I have agreed to create a strategic partnership agreement to exchange experiences. Ukraine's defense struggle concerns all of Europe. And no one can teach us more than the Ukrainians," says Støre.

Fend for yourself

Because what do you do when there is a power outage, the hospital is out of operation and you must improvise what you formerly took for granted?

In the Total Defense Year 2026, the individual's responsibility for preparedness is in focus.

"Preparedness concerns us all, and it is about awareness and collaboration, your and my role in societal preparedness, whether within your family, business or at school. It is really a demanding task, because we must do it ourselves. No one will take care of it for us. Yes, we live in a safe country, where the authorities take a high degree of responsibility, but you must be able to fend for yourself for a week without electricity."

And that applies to crises, war, and extreme weather.

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Energy crisis

"Do the students at the university know the routines and rules for preparedness? Has anyone talked about it and informed the students? Businesses should ask themselves, where are our possible vulnerabilities? Data security, power outage, or physical security? Can just anyone enter the business?" asks Støre, urging local businesses to ask themselves these control questions.

"And we must do this without looking over our shoulder, becoming suspicious of our neighbors. It is an awareness and we must think about how public security is everyone's responsibility. Does society have a plan for landslides and tsunamis?"

On Friday, the prime minister warned against an upcoming energy crisis, including fuel rationing. Even if peace were to come to the Middle East, the energy supplies would have fallen behind for a good while. In six weeks, there might be a shortage of fuel for planes.

"We have good diesel reserves, and so does much of the business sector. But fuel is going to be a problem if the situation in the Middle East doesn't improve soon. We need planning tools to ensure that ambulances, hospitals, and critical functions operate," says Støre.

Total defense

"In reality, we must ask ourselves a whole new question. The question is not about what kind of defense we have, but what kind of total defense we have in terms of preparedness. Russia's war in Europe, the unrest in the Middle East and the Gulf all have major consequences, along with a USA that is acting more and more unpredictably, and sometimes confrontationally."

Great power rivalry increases unpredictability, according to Støre.

"The major conflicts don't arise in the North, but all major conflicts can be felt in the North. Nothing specific has happened in the North, but we are impacted because Russia has invaded Ukraine and become a totalitarian state. We are impacted. And that is why this is ongoing work. Each and every one of us must think about what this means for us. What responsibility do I and my business have? What do I do to maintain operations in times of crises?"

Less dependent

Støre says that the Middle East has been changed forever, and that will have implications for Norway as well.

"We must become less dependent on fossil fuels. That is a security policy demanding task, just as Europe experienced with the dependence on Russian gas. Our aim is still for the High North to be safe and stable, and I still stand by the vision 'High North, low tension.' We are not interested in increasing tension in the North, and I believe Russia is also concerned with having some stability concerning important resources in the North."

The government's latest High North strategy, which was presented last year, promotes the idea of a Northern Norwegian intellectual lead, meaning Norway's intellectual and knowledge-based leadership in the Arctic.

"It is crucial to us that when others ask about climate change, business, defense and preparedness, that we have something to offer. For countries further south, the Arctic is remote. We are the outer border of NATO and Schengen. And settlement and business in the North helps protect our sovereignty. That is why the High North is so important."

Preparedness advice

It is also about making society more resilient to serious incidents. The business, university, hospital, organisation, municipality, they must all do the work. 

"We must strengthen our economic security, i.e., our competitiveness, adaptability, and cooperation with others. Resilience is about individuals, municipalities, counties, state administrators. What tasks does the individual have in a crisis?"

Now, there will be established municipal preparedness councils for central actors in all municipalities.

The prime minister believes Bodø and Nordland is a national center of gravity in terms of civil-military cooperation.

"Partly because of the state of the world, and partly because you qualify for it, including with the co-location of emergency services. It provides increased security and is a model for the rest of the country. You have Nordlab at Nord University, a university-based preparedness arena that is very exciting, and Nordland County Council continues and strengthens its maritime safety centers.  So it really means that we are well underway in this preparedness work, also with our neighboring countries," says Støre, while also highlighting the importance of the Arctic 6 university alliance.