The Norwegian government has announced that the country will be the first in the world to implement zero tolerance on deforestation and will no longer take part in anything related or encouraged by loss of forestry.

The announcement came from the Action Plan on Nature Diversity devised by Norway’s Standing Committee on Energy and Environment in an attempt to curb global deforestation, bringing the Scandinavian country’s goal of becoming climate-neutral forward 20 years from 2050 to 2030.

Nils Hermann Ranum, head of the Rainforest Foundation Norway policy and campaign, states that Norway is leading the pack and setting an example to the rest of the world by not only separating themselves from the act of deforestation, but also not participating in dealing in deforestation-related products such as palm oil and wood products from South America and Indonesia that contributes to a high percentage of forest loss.

“Over the last few years, a number of companies have committed to cease the procurement of goods that can be linked to destruction of the rainforest … It is highly positive that the Norwegian state is now following suit and making the same demands when it comes to public procurements.” 

Norway contributes globally to many other conservation projects including the investment of $250 million for the preservation of Guyana’s forests and sending $150 million to Liberia in order for them to be able to also prohibit deforestation.

The country hopes that the UK and Germany will follow suit after announcing the pledge alongside both European countries in the Paris climate talks back in December 2015.

Despite relying heavily on their lucrative oil industry, Norway also plans to ban the sale of fossil-fuel cars within the next 10 years. They further plan to make a heavy investment in wind power tripling its capacity by 2020.