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• Nadeau, Christina; Milkoreit, Manjana; Dischler, Reidar; Kilsti, Sunneva & Hessen, Dag Olav (2026). Climate dissonance: Examining the relationship between climate beliefs and attitudes toward fossil fuel activities in Norway. Energy Research & Social Science. ISSN 2214-6296. 136. doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104750. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and limit anthropogenic global warming to 1.5 °C (or below 2 °C), research indicates that a substantial proportion of the world's remaining fossil fuel reserves must remain unextracted. Despite this, several fossil-producing countries continue to expand hydrocarbon activity. Norway represents a particularly important case because it combines high levels of climate concern with continued support for oil and gas production. Given the intrinsic link between climate change and fossil fuel consumption, one might expect heightened concern about climate impacts to translate into greater support among respondents for restricting further hydrocarbon exploration and extraction. This article examines the relationship between climate change beliefs, political affiliation, and support for fossil fuel extraction in Norway. While many studies have examined climate attitudes or fossil fuel policy preferences independently, this paper addresses how these orientations coexist in a fossil-exporting welfare state, the paradox of strong climate concern alongside continued respondent-level support for fossil fuel production. Drawing on nationally representative survey data collected between 2020 and 2024, this study uses descriptive data from multiple years to show the stability of attitudes over time, while regression analyses focus on the 2024 dataset, which contains the full set of relevant variables and provides the most up-to-date snapshot of respondents' views. It further explores how climate attitudes, political orientation, and support for fossil fuel activities intersect to shape attitudes toward supply-side climate policy. Despite relatively high levels of climate scepticism compared to other Western nations, we find that most Norwegians perceive climate change as a serious issue. However, nearly 90% of respondents still support continued oil and gas production. Climate concern is associated with greater support for restricting future exploration, but not with support for ending existing production, and this relationship is strongly patterned by political affiliation. This paradox places Norway in a state of “climate dissonance”, in which concern about climate change coexists with continued endorsement of fossil fuel activities. As a highly educated nation with a strong environmental reputation yet an economy deeply intertwined with fossil fuel wealth, Norway provides a compelling case for understanding why high levels of climate concern do not necessarily translate into support for fossil fuel phase-out in fossil-fuel-dependent democracies.

• Milkoreit, Manjana; Boyd, Emily; Constantino, Sara M.; Hausner, Vera Helene; Hessen, Dag Olav & Kääb, Andreas [Show all 15 contributors for this article] (2024). Governance for Earth system tipping points – A research agenda. Earth System Governance. 21. doi: 10.1016/j.esg.2024.100216. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Tipping points in the Earth system could be passed within the Paris Agreement's temperature goal range (1.5°C–2°C). Tipping processes are a feature of complex Earth system dynamics that present major governance challenges not addressed by existing global governance institutions. The common governance toolkit is a poor match for dealing with tipping processes, especially non-linear change, and radical intertemporality. To support the development of effective responses to anticipated, rapid state changes in the Earth system, there is an urgent need for new interdisciplinary research programs focused specifically on tipping-point governance. We distinguish two domains of action in a multi-phase framework - prevention and impact governance - and identify key research areas and questions that need to be addressed. These include developing governance principles, identifying actors and institutions that should be involved or need to be created, and determining the appropriate temporal and spatial scales for governance efforts.

• Gjermundsen, Gunnar; Haugestad, Christian Andres Palacios & Nadeau, Christina (2024). Etterord: Tre råd til mennesker i antropocen. In Mjaaland, Marius Timmann; Eriksen, Thomas Hylland & Hessen, Dag Olav (Ed.), Antropocen - menneskets tidsalder. Res Publica. ISSN 9788282263016. p. 227–237. Full text in Research Archive
• Nadeau, Christina; Milkoreit, Manjana; Eriksen, Thomas Hylland & Hessen, Dag Olav (2024). Missing the (tipping) point: the effect of information about climate tipping points on public risk perceptions in Norway. Earth System Dynamics (ESD). ISSN 2190-4979. 15(4), p. 969–985. doi: 10.5194/esd-15-969-2024. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Climate tipping points are a topic of growing interest in climate research and a frequent communication tool in the media to warn of dangerous climate change. Despite indications that several climate tipping points may already be triggered within 1.5 to 2 °C warming above pre-industrial levels, there is limited research about the public understanding of climate tipping points, the effects this knowledge (or lack thereof) may have on perceptions of risk related to climate change, and the corresponding effects on behaviour and public policy support. The emerging scholarship on learning, communication, and risk perceptions related to climate tipping points provides confounding evidence regarding the psychological and behavioural effects of information about climate tipping points. It remains unknown whether and under what conditions this knowledge increases concern, risk perceptions, and action intentions. In this study, we assess the current state of knowledge about climate tipping points among Norwegians using an online survey. We study the comparative effects of communicating about climate tipping points and climate change more generally on risk perceptions among participants with a survey-embedded experiment. Norway is an interesting case with its fossil-based economy and high level of education. We find that familiarity with climate tipping points is low among Norwegians: only 13 % have good knowledge in the sense that they know an example or characteristic of climate tipping points. Information about tipping points has somewhat stronger, yet overall very small, effects on participants' risk perceptions compared to general information about climate change, moderately increasing concern. We discuss our findings and their implications and suggest directions for further research.

• Hessen, Dag Olav; Milkoreit, Manjana & Nadeau, Christina (2024). Future Climate: Making Sense of the Long-Term to Ensure a Liveable Future. In Holand, Astrid Marie (Eds.), Time in Our Times: Stretching Contemporary Understandings of Time. De Gruyter Brill. ISSN 9783111428420. p. 101–124. doi: 10.1515/9783111428970-005. Full text in Research Archive

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