Nordic Sustainability Briefing — 27 September 2026
Regulatory and financing moves in Norway sit alongside a global push on electrification today, from Oslo's proposal to align packaging rules with new EU law and fresh funding for nitrogen removal in the Oslofjord, to IEA and Ember reports charting how far electrification could advance and where AI's power demands are testing grid capacity.
Norway proposes new packaging regulation to bring EU rules into national law
The Norwegian Environment Agency (Miljødirektoratet) has proposed a new packaging regulation that would replace current rules on packaging and packaging waste with a single regulation implementing the EU's new packaging rules in Norway. The EU Packaging Regulation began applying in EU countries on 12 August 2026. The EU rules ban some single-use formats, such as small portion packs for cosmetics, hygiene products and food. The agency proposes still allowing single-use plastic on fresh fruit and vegetables under 1.5 kg where a need is documented.
IEA report says cost-competitive electrification could lift global rate to 33%
On 22 September at the UN General Assembly, the International Energy Agency released a Special Report on Global Electrification, requested by Türkiye and Australia to inform COP31. It supports the COP31 Presidency's goal of raising electricity's share of final global energy use from around 23% today to 35% by 2035. The report finds that making full use of electrification options that are already cost-competitive could raise the global electrification rate to 33%. COP31 takes place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026.
Ember's 'Age of Power' report says AI growth is increasingly limited by electricity and grid access
Ember's new report argues that the limits on AI are increasingly electrical, because AI needs power and grid connections quickly. It says five components — chips, batteries, power electronics, motors and sensors — are shared by digital and electric technologies, and that their combined cost has fallen by 99% since 1990. A follow-up graphic compares countries on both electrification and digital adoption, such as robots, smart meters and autonomous vehicles, and finds China the only country consistently strong across both measures and all three sectors examined.
Norway awards further NOK 10 million for nitrogen removal to improve the Oslofjord
The Norwegian Environment Agency is awarding a further NOK 10 million so that 14 municipalities can remove nitrogen at wastewater treatment plants in the Oslofjord catchment. The Norwegian parliament has allocated more than NOK 100 million to the scheme this year, and NOK 96 million was awarded earlier in the year. The new round received 17 applications seeking more than NOK 30 million in total. Funded projects cover planning and assessment of nitrogen-removal options, including pilot projects and technology testing.