The Oslo office is where the general and long-term strategy of the entire Bellona organisation is developed. This is where we plan our actions and environmental patrols. This is where we strategize on options for securing Russian nuclear waste, and to prevent the dumping of polluted sediments on the seabed. This is where we write comprehensive reports on subjects such as Norwegian fisheries, and on the necessity of reform in the Russian nuclear industry. In the autumn of 2005 we launched our new CO2-report “Environment and Economic Growth Hand in Hand: CO2 to Enhanced Oil Recovery on Norwegian Continental Shelf―A Study in Possibilities,” which illustrates the profitable possibilities that arise when CO2 is handled in a responsible way. Issues of oil and gas extraction in the Northern Arctic areas also remain a priority issue.

The Russia Group in Oslo

Unfortunately, the problems surrounding radioactive pollution in Russia are nowhere near a solution, and much research towards eventual resolution of the problem is carried out by both our offices in Oslo and in Russia.

The Russian Group at our Oslo office consists of five people with various backgrounds ranging from nuclear physics to Russian literature. The group’s main tasks are writing for and maintaining Bellona’s English environmental news and analysis pages on Bellona Web (www.bellona.org), the challenges surrounding nuclear management in Russia and the activities relating to oil on Russia’s Arctic continental shelf.

The tasks are many, and the days are often long. But for our dedicated environmentalists, it is important to pass on the knowledge we have while there is still time.