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Norway

Crown Prince Haakon held the first annual “Environmental speech” in Oslo

It was during the very first “Environmental speech” hosted by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) that Crown Prince Haakon talked about his relationship with nature. The Crown Prince’s first speech is hopefully the start of an annual tradition.

Both Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette Marit were welcomed by the Secretary General of WWF Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, in Oslo on Wednesday. The Secretary General opened the seminar with his own speech before the Crown Prince addressed the audience.

His Royal Highness said: “In all our modernity, we make a false distinction between ourselves and nature, as if we are something else – and that is us and nature. I think it is completely wrong. We humans are nature. That we rediscover it and take that knowledge back and understand it at a deeper level – that we are nature – then I think we make better decisions and manage to act more. Those who suffer the most are the poorest. Those who are in the most vulnerable areas are poor people, who have contributed least to the problems and who bear the greatest burden”.

HRH Crown Prince Haakon in conversations with the Secretary General of the WWF World Natural Fund, Bård Vegar Solhjell. Photo: Sven Gj. Gjeruldsen / The Royal Court / Det Kongelige Hoff.

The Crown Prince also talked about his impressions of seeing plastic and garbage in long uninhabited places, about the children ‘s concern about the climate challenges and those who carry the greatest burden.

His Royal Highness also said: “It is incredibly positive that there are so many young people who say what they think about this. I hope and believe that it will be a historic turning point that may help us to get a little bit faster, so it really does”.

“If the Norwegian economy needs to have its own voice, then at least the environment must have it too! For 2019 – and every year after 2019 – then having to carry out an ecologically responsible policy must be as important as conducting a financially responsible policy”, said Secretary General Solhjell. The Environmental speech is about what the Norwegian government must do to contribute to the work for a new, global nature agreement, as well as to prevent natural catastrophes in Norway.

About author

Senior Europe Correspondent Oskar Aanmoen has a master in military and political history of the Nordic countries. He has written six books on historical subjects and more than 1.500 articles for Royal Central. He has also interview both Serbian and Norwegian royals. Aanmoen is based in Oslo, Norway.