Director General Ellen Hambro

We are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions reduce the spread of substances harmful to health and environment achieve a holistic and ecosystem based management of water bodies and oceans increase recycling and reducing emissions from waste reduce harmful effects from air pollution and noise Our strategy 2008-2012: Together for a Better Environment

Our functions and roles:

We exercise regulatory authority and carry out inspections

Klif manages and enforces the Pollution Control Act, the Product Control Act and the Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Act. We grant permits, establish requirements and set emission limits, and carry out inspections to ensure compliance.

We monitor and inform about the state of the environment

Klif has an overview of the state of the environment and its development. Together with other expert agencies we provide environmental information to the public. Our main channel is State of the Environment Norway.

We instruct and guide the County Governors’ environmental departments

Klif supervises and monitors the County Governors’ work on pollution, coordinates the County Governors’ inspection work and organises joint inspections. We provide guidelines for the County Governors and also deal with appeals against decisions made by the County Governors.

We provide expert advice and promote key environmental initiatives

Klif speaks out if the state of the environment takes an unwanted direction in relation to Norwegian environmental goals or international obligations. We highlight focus on the main environmental challenges in different sectors, and we give advice, assessments and suggestions for lines of action to the Ministry of the Environment.

We participate in international environmental and development cooperation

Klif participates in a series of international processes, where we work for regional and global agreements that reduce serious environmental problems. We also cooperate with the environmental authorities in other countries, sharing competence and contributing to environmental improvements.