While the transport sector faces a carbon tax of more than NOK 400 per tonne of CO2 emissions, other sectors are exempt from all or part of this tax. When it comes to agriculture, domestic shipping and manufacturing, business policy and climate policy are pulling in different directions. In order to promote eco-friendly technology, it may be necessary to reinforce climate policy with funding for basic research and for the development and deployment of climate-friendly processes and products. At the same time, we should be on our guard against attempts to abuse the “green” epithet to qualify for public subsidies. The climate challenge will not be 6/9  BIS central bankers' speeches  resolved by having the authorities designate the “winners” in the transition to green technology. Regulations and subsidies in areas subject to emissions trading or carbon taxes often entail a waste of energy and money. The efforts to reduce global warming will provide a seedbed for new production methods, new businesses and new jobs. Some of these will be in Norway. But it is difficult to see how we have an advantage over other countries in this area. The transition to a low-carbon society is necessary but is unlikely to take over as a new engine of growth. Oil revenue spending needs to be reined in It may give cause for reflection that Norway, as a nation, has gained so much from a resource that is an important source of global warming.
There has always been a considerable risk from having a large share of the nation’s wealth linked to a single commodity. But this share has fallen. Only a decade ago, oil and gas reserves made up two-thirds of Norway’s petroleum wealth. Today that share has dropped to about a third. Our aggregate wealth has become more diversified, which means we can tolerate slightly higher volatility in our financial wealth. The Government has today announced that it will propose an increase in the equity allocation in the oil fund to 70 percent. At the same time, the estimated expected real return on the oil fund is adjusted down to 3 percent. The choice of equity allocation is an important decision. But an even more important choice is the level of oil revenue spending. Fluctuations in the value of the fund present challenges for fiscal policy and for the fiscal rule. Let me comment somewhat further on this issue. The oil fund and the fiscal rule have long been important pillars of Norwegian economic policy. One key goal has been to preserve large parts of our petroleum wealth for future generations. There has also been an explicit desire to shield the Norwegian economy from swings in oil prices. Allow me to quote from the Revised National Budget for 1995: “Revenues from the petroleum sector vary more over time than other revenues.