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Norway and the United Kingdom: a bilateral and global partnership

Prime Minister David Cameron and Prime Minister Stoltenberg of Norway signed a bilateral and global partnership on 19 January 2011.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Norway and the UK share a long history of bilateral cooperation in the areas of Energy, Defence and Business.  Norway supplies 30% of Britain’s primary energy supplies, and we are working together on major renewables projects such as Dogger Bank.  Our research partnerships include work on climate, CCS and Arctic issues.  Bilateral trade is worth £18bn, and investment in both directions is growing strongly, including through the Norwegian Pension Fund.  In Europe, Norway’s membership of the EEA provides access to the EU’s single market and regulatory frameworks.  As members of NATO, we cooperate in Afghanistan, on international peacekeeping operations, training and on the assessment of new threats.  We also work closely together internationally to promote climate policies, democratic values, civil liberties and development towards the millennium development goals.

Our priorities for 2011 are:

  1. Further develop our energy relationship with a focus on safe oil and gas exploration, extraction and supply, offshore wind, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), development of a North Sea power grid, and a Norway-UK electricity interconnector.  We will work together on European and Multilateral energy issues and establish a cross-departmental dialogue on energy and climate security. We will also enhance bilateral cooperation to protect the marine environment, in particular sustainable development of our shared North Sea resources.

  2. Promote Climate policies and technologies, working towards a successful COP17 in Durban.  We will promote the international deployment of CCS technology and delivery of the EU-China Near Zero Emissions Coal project.  We will support the Green Climate Fund to provide long-term finance for developing countries to make low-carbon transitions and adapt to climate change.  We welcome the progress made by the report of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Climate Finance, and will continue to seek to deliver new and innovative source of climate finance. We will also cooperate to fight deforestation by scaling up finance and building on the ground rules agreed in Cancun for monitoring progress.

  3. Work to strengthen our trade and investment relationship in areas such as energy and low carbon technologies, financial services, maritime industries, IT, biotech and consumer goods and services.

4. In international development we will continue to work towards the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those related to health.  We will support multilateral reform to improve aid effectiveness and address the impact of climate change on developing nations.

  1. In the field of justice and home affairs we will continue to strengthen our cooperation in areas such as terrorism, cross-border crime, integration and immigration.

  2. We will further develop our defence and security policy cooperation through the implementation of the NATO Strategic Concept and work to address new threats such as cyber security.  We will seek to enhance our operational capabilities through training and joint procurement, and collaborate closely on resolving international tensions, for example in Sudan, Burma and the Middle East.

  3. We will continue to expand co-operation in the academic and scientific fields, focusing on climate and polar research.  We will aim to increase education and cultural links.

  4. We will cooperate on Consular matters to improve our support to citizens affected by crisis situations.

We intend to meet regularly at the level of Prime Minister to review the priorities set out in this document.

Signed

David Cameron

Jens Stoltenberg

Published 20 January 2011