Background information

The flood events that hit southern Norway in the autumn of 2023 led to a great need for clean-up. The flood water brought with it large quantities of waste, which was left on both production areas, edge zones, wetland areas, conservation areas and other public and private property. Some of the costs for cleaning up was covered by established schemes, but much of the clean-up work on private land had to be handled differently. A temporary measure was set up by the government in November 2023 to pay for the verified costs of clearing up after the flooding events.

Content of measure

The need for clean-up after the flood events in southern Norway in the autumn of 2023 led the government to open for the use of municipal discretionary funds for clean-up on public and private land. This work took place under the auspices of the municipality. In addition, the government allocated NOK 10 million (€0.9 million) to cover waste clean-up costs for private individuals, where the clean-up costs were not covered by other schemes. The money was provided through a provisional funding program, and applications for grants processed digitally and handled by the county governor. The Norwegian Directorate of Agriculture was the appeal body for the scheme. The funding made in 2023 was transferred to the 2024 budget.

The Norwegian Farmers' Union, which requested assistance from the government to deal with the damage from the flood, had previously stated that the regulation of the rivers and protection of riverbanks had to account for the prevention of the topsoil. It stated that topsoil is a valuable resource for the country, and that it therefore is very important that The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) prioritises preserving soil resources and takes responsibility to protect them in more extreme and wet weather conditions in the future.

Use of measure

No information.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Other businesses	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Other social actors (e.g. NGOs)	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Informed	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

In September 2023, the Norwegian Farmers' Union sent a letter to the Government, requesting funding for municipalities, counties and county governors to help with the clean-up work that was needed. The Farmers Union argued there was a lot of uncertainty about how to collect and deal with the waste, and asked that that money be set aside for the municipalities for this clean-up work, and that there were systems in place for collecting the rubbish.

Views and reactions

The Norwegian Farmers' Union supported the measrue.

Sources

• 14 September 2023: The clean-up job is too big - Norwegian Farmers' Association (www.bondelaget.no)
• 23 November 2023: The Prime Minister with news for flood-affected farmers (www.bondelaget.no)
• 24 November 2023: NOK 10 million for cleaning up waste after the flood incidents (www.regjeringen.no)