– I get a little sad, because we are in a time where the changes are so extensive and fast. That we live in a country that does not want to invest in knowledge about climate change’s impact on vulnerable ecosystems is very unfortunate, says ecologist Åshild Ønvik Pedersen to The daily newspaper.
She is the leader of the Coat program which, through the budget settlement with SV last year, was allocated NOK 20 million above the state budget. This year, no funds have been proposed for the programme.
– It came as a big surprise and of course a very big disappointment, says professor of ecology Rolf Ims at UiT Norway’s Arctic University to the newspaper.
He reacts to the support being cut so suddenly.
– The fact that they give it money for one year actually makes no sense at all. It’s almost a waste of funds if that’s the case.
Coat monitors two places that are part of the Arctic tundra in Norway, the Varanger Peninsula in Finnmark and on Svalbard. Now the project is in jeopardy.
– With the grant we have received in 2024, we have set up for full operation. We have hired people and we have started new measurement series. All this is in danger of having to end when we lose the funds to both pay people and keep the measurements going, says Ims.
The government, through State Secretary Ivar Prestbakmo (Sp) in the Ministry of Education, emphasizes that the money from the 2024 budget was a single allocation.
– We could not find room to prioritize a separate grant earmarked for Coat in this year’s budget, says Prestbakmo.
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