News

FutureLakes aims to show how technological and nature-based solutions can revolutionise the protection of European lakes.

In Porsangerfjorden in Finnmark, large-scale sea urchin removal has restored the kelp forest on a former marine desert landscape. Almost ten years after the sea urchins were removed, the project can report that millions of kelp plants and billions of small animals are still occurring.

A recent NIVA study shows that so-called “green” car tires, which are marketed as environmentally friendly, can actually be just as harmful to the environment as regular tires – and in some cases even worse.

NiD4OCEAN is a pioneering EU project that combines the development of offshore renewable energy with the protection of marine biodiversity.

In an exciting environmental collaboration, NIVA and the Polish company APRS have teamed up to tackle phosphorus in lakes and rivers.

UN Member States met in Ottawa 23-29 April to continue the negotiations for a global treaty to end plastic pollution. Researchers from NIVA are part of a network of 350 scientists informing the negotiations.

In combination, solar power, hydropower and batteries can provide large amounts of renewable, stable and affordable energy. The HYDROSUN project is developing hybrid power plants based on these three solutions.

Nature positivity is a popular buzz word for those engaged in the offshore wind industry. But a recent study concludes that a scientific definition of what it really means, is missing.

Early 2024, the European Parliament will have a final vote on the Nature Restoration Law (NRL). An international team of scientists has investigated the prospects of the new regulation and published an article about it in the journal Science.

A comprehensive Norwegian study has investigated the environmental effects of pharmaceutical discharges via wastewater from hospitals. Some drugs may pose a hazard to the environment, while for several drugs we lack knowledge about the effects on aquatic life.

Earlier this month, NIVA and the NIVA-led Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty were present in Nairobi for the third round of negotiations for a binding global agreement against plastic pollution. The goal was to contribute to an agreement that regulates the entire plastics lifecycle and that is based on solid, independent research.

A recent Nature article with two NIVA co-authors shows that biodiversity in European streams and rivers has increased since the 1970s, but that the positive trend has stopped in the last decade.

The ever-increasing problem of plastic pollution has prompted widespread efforts to combat it through innovative clean-up technologies. These advancements, however, often seen as the silver bullet to solve our plastic crisis, sometimes do more harm than good.

Microalgae are a renewable resource. They absorb CO2 as they grow and reproduce themselves at a rapid pace. It is time to put them to use. 

Over the next four years, the new European Topic Centre for Biodiversity and Ecosystems (ETC BE) will compile, systematise, and assess the knowledge base for European environmental policies.

KRONIKK: Den bør ikke eksporteres til fattige land der den ofte havner på dynga. Det er på høy tid at vi i vesten tar ansvar for det plastavfallet vi produserer og omfavner mulighetene som ligger i nye, bærekraftige løsninger.

The Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) has recently been awarded funding to lead a new EU project that will investigate the interaction between all European regulations that affect governance of Europe’s seas and coasts.

Some may have never heard of the term Cryosphere, though most know where the Earth is covered by ice and snow either seasonally or year-round. Climate change is happening in the Cryosphere faster and more dramatically than anywhere else on earth. The first State of the Cryosphere report, reviewed and supported by nearly 50 leading cryosphere scientists and with over half of them Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) authors, has been released and will come out annually every year until 2030.

At the Aurora hydrothermal vent field, 82.5N, the HACON project successfully sampled rocks, fluids, sediments and fauna to better understand the functioning of the deep Arctic Ocean.