This issue:

- NORDIC ENVIRONMENTAL KNOW-HOW WILL MEET CLIMATE CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
- NORDIC PROJECT TO STOP TAX EVASION CONTINUES
- RECESSION AS CATALYST FOR GREEN GROWTH
- NORDIC COUNCIL PRESSURE PAYS OFF

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News from Nordic News Weekly:
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Tuesday 19/05/2009
NORDIC ENVIRONMENTAL KNOW-HOW WILL MEET CLIMATE CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
The Nordic Ministers for Co-operation have taken the decision to re-structure the Nordic Development Fund (NDF). In the future the fund will focus activities on initiatives that will contribute to preventing and redressing climate-related environmental problems in developing countries.

”The new structure of activities in NDF will allow the Nordic countries, using the institutions’ knowledge in the environmental field, to give concrete help to those that need it most. At the same time we will show the world that the Nordic region is a pioneer with a strong commitment to the global challenges”, says Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Halldór Ásgrímsson.

The main purpose of the NDF has been to promote economic and social development by offering favourable credit terms. The fund, which has granted favourable loans to about 190 projects of Nordic interest in developing countries since 1989, will now be managed with a new mandate. The plans are that the annual repayments over the next 35 years will be used to manage climate change in the poorest developing countries. Altogether this amounts to a sum of one thousand million euro.

Read NDF’s press release: http://www.ndf.fi/

Tuesday 19/05/2009
NORDIC PROJECT TO STOP TAX EVASION CONTINUES
The member countries of the Nordic Council of Ministers have decided to continue their co-operation to combat tax evasion. At a press conference on 18 May 2009, as part of this co-operation, the Nordic countries signed an information exchange agreement with the British Virgin Islands.

”It must no longer be possible for greedy companies and individuals to put themselves outside the international community and undermine the rules for global competiveness and the growth of welfare. Therefore the Nordic countries have taken the decision to continue the successful Nordic partnership to combat tax evasion. Through the agreements that have been signed the Nordic region has demonstrated that we are a region with international commitment which takes a global responsibility”, stated the Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Halldór Ásgrímsson, in conjunction with the signing of the agreement with the British Virgin Islands.

The agreement with the British Virgin Islands is the sixth of its kind. The Nordic countries have already entered into similar agreements with the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. Negotiations have reached an advanced stage with, amongst others, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles.

The member countries of the Nordic Council of Ministers decided as early as 2006 to enter into negotiations with tax jurisdictions to combat international tax evasion. This continued co-operation strengthens the negotiation position of the Nordic countries and keeps the cost of the countries’ negotiation work down. The Faroe Islands and Greenland are also taking part in this work. An information exchange agreement gives the tax authorities access to information on tax evaders’ capital investments and incomes. Entering into agreements can lead to the exposure of assets and incomes which have not been declared in the country of residence.

Iceland holds the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2009. The agreement with the British Virgin Islands was signed at the Icelandic Embassy in Copenhagen.

Further information: http://www.norden.org/ekonomi/uk/skatteflykt.asp?lang=6

Wednesday 20/05/2009
RECESSION AS CATALYST FOR GREEN GROWTH
The current financial crisis may serve as a catalyst for greener energy in the Baltic Sea Region. Governments should target stimulus packages more directly towards climate-friendly energy projects, for example, a process that would generate growth and jobs at the same time as it improved the climate.

Investment in green growth has been called for by a parliamentary Climate and Energy Working Group comprising members from throughout the Baltic Sea Region.

The Group, set up by the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC), presented its proposals in Berlin on Tuesday. The report contains recommendations to governments in the region, including steps to take in the run-up to the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen in December. The Group’s main message is that carbon emissions must be reduced, the share of renewable energy sources increased and energy used more efficiently.

As part of a climate-friendly energy policy the Group has called for an expansion of offshore wind power and a more uniform electricity grid throughout the region. At present, a great deal of energy is wasted by poor insulation, so improvements to existing buildings are also high on the Group’s list of priorities.

The Climate Group is also calling for investments in training in green-energy planning for officials at both local and regional level in the region.

The BSPC Climate and Energy Working Group consists of MPs from a number of organisations around the Baltic Sea, including the Nordic Council, which is represented by two members of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee: Ann-Kristine Johansson (Sweden) and Ivar Kristiansen (Norway).

The Group, which was set up in autumn 2007, will present its report to the annual meeting of the Baltic Sea Conference to be held in Nyborg, Denmark, in late August/early September

The BSPC website: http://www.bspc.net/

Wednesday 20/05/2009
NORDIC COUNCIL PRESSURE PAYS OFF
The ministers for Nordic co-operation have agreed a new remit for the Helsinki-based Nordic Development Fund (NDF), which will concentrate on funding climate investments in poor developing countries.

“The ministers have decided to amend the remit of the NDF. It is a political decision that will lead to tangible actions to confront global challenges. The decision to concentrate on climate investments is a sign that the Nordic countries continue to assume responsibility for helping those with the greatest need in the developing world. It also represents a major success for Nordic inter-parliamentary co-operation. Without the pressure exerted by the Nordic Council, the outcome would probably have been different,” comments the Director of the Nordic Council, Jan-Erik Enestam.

The development ministers recommended winding up the NDF in 2005 when the countries failed to reach agreement on subsidising its budget. The change of heart by the co-operation ministers follows a reassessment of the issue by the owners and, in particular, discussions by the Nordic Council.