The Fridtjof Nansen Institute has - once again - been nominated as best European think tank of the year. This year, the institute is nominated in not only one, but in two separate research categories: energy and environment, and international affairs.

FNI will be hosting two events during Arendalsuka in August: One on the 'Duel of Giants', i.e. the role of the EU and China in international climate politics, and one on 'the Blue Battle', Norway's new marine conflicts related to climate change.

Why is the fight for nature conservation and biodiversity so often outshadowed by the fight against climate change?

Professor of law and FNI researcher Ole Kristian Fauchald appealed to a higher court after his request for access to documents was rejected by the Norwegian government. An international committee has now reviewed the case – and offers serious criticism of the government’s handling of the matter.

A formidable energy revolution is underway in China. However, major obstacles to necessary reforms still remain.

Geographical and cultural distances aside, Northeast Asia and the Nordic countries have a lot to learn from each other, says former diplomat and FNI Associate Fellow, Arne Walther.

FNI researchers Steinar Andresen and Lars H. Gulbrandsen have been appointed to serve another five-year term on the editorial board for the highly recognized academic journal Global Environmental Politics (GEP).

FNI Director Geir Hønneland ranks as number 17 on the list of the hundred most productive scholars in Norway.

A new research project at FNI investigates China and Norway’s decade long collaboration on mercury, and asks what role these countries can play internationally to help reduce mercury emissions.

How do we manage and preserve fisheries and biological diversity in the vast ocean areas outside national jurisidiction?

Where is the ‘Russian Bear’ headed? Are nationalism, political oppression and corruption on the rise in what appears to be an increasingly authoritarian Russia? A recent conference in Oslo sought to provide some answers.

While diplomatic and political relations between Norway and China have been strained recent years, research cooperation seems to be thriving. A high-level meeting this week highlighted mutual Arctic interests between China and the Nordic states.

With the Norwegian Parliament putting the final touches on the government’s proposed climate law, important questions arise: Do we even need this climate law? And how well will it work together with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme?

Countries all over the world are adopting carbon trading. Will the emerging carbon markets manage to steer clear of the many pitfalls involved in emissions trading – or are we headed for a carbon-market backlash?

Pål Wilter Skedsmo, Senior Research Fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, was commended by the adjudicating Committee at his doctoral defense for what they termed a ‘unique’, ‘empirically rich’ and ‘original work’.

Can climate change be mitigated and poverty alleviated at the same time, or are they simply incompatible policy objectives? Climate change negotiator, Ajay Mathur, Director General of the Energy and Resources Institute in India (TERI), believes it can be done.

FNI Director Geir Hønneland briefed Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Foreign Minister Børge Brende during their official visit to China in April.

FNI Senior Policy Analyst Christian Prip has been given the task to conduct an independent review of the International Whaling Commission.

Researchers from FNI and the K.G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea are in New York this week to give input to the UN on the use of marine resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

FNI Director Geir Hønneland gave a talk on Russia and ‘how to understand Russians’ at a recent debate in Bergen.