The three-party coalition that has been governing Norway is committed to a climate change policy that does not allow for the construction of new power stations. The Labour and Conservative opposition is largely seen as exploiting the issue in order to de-stabilise the Government rather than to improve or undermine Norway’s overall environmental performance.
Throughout the debate, which has dominated Norwegian national news for several weeks, the prospect of vote of no confidence has been well know but not many observers believed that it would be avoided (see related story)