White paper on total preparedness: Prepared for crisis and war

‘Over the past few years, we have been faced with a pandemic, extreme weather events and cyber attacks. The white paper on total preparedness is intended to enhance Norway’s ability to prevent and respond to these types of situations. We are taking steps to ensure that civil society is equipped to deal with a crisis or war. Our civil society must be able to back up military efforts and withstand complex threats,’ said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

‘This is a historic white paper. It is a turning point for total preparedness in Norway. The preparedness measures in place since the 1990s and the fall of the Berlin Wall were based on deep peace. That period is behind us, and we must now plan for a new era,’ said Minister of Justice and Public Security Emilie Enger Mehl.

Everyone must do their part

The white paper on total preparedness does not focus on a specific sector, but rather includes measures that affect the public sector, the business sector, and other sectors of society, as well as all of us as individuals.

‘We are stronger and more resilient when we stand together. We must all give adequate consideration to preparedness – at home, in our free time and at work. National authorities, municipalities, companies, and each and every one of us must do our part to ensure that Norway is even better prepared to deal with a crisis situation or war,’ said Mr Støre.

‘If we are to respond effectively to crises and unforeseen events, we must pull together. We have managed this before, when we were a poorer country than we are now, and we can do it again. We must create a culture of preparedness in all sectors of society,’ said Ms Mehl.

As a basis for the Government’s efforts to strengthen the resilience of civil society, the white paper identifies three primary objectives to ensure that:

• Norwegian civil society is equipped to deal with a crisis or war;
• Norwegian civil society is able to withstand hybrid threats;
• Norwegian civil society is able to augment military efforts.

The white paper has been drawn up against the backdrop of a difficult security situation, including Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the war in the Middle East, and heightened global competition and rivalry between major powers for military, political, economic and technological power.

‘The white paper on total preparedness is designed to take us into a new era, one where we must be better equipped to deal with a crisis situation or war. It sets out concrete plans for how we can achieve this and thereby ensure that Norway is as well prepared as possible, even though we can never know what the future may bring,’ said Ms Mehl.

The white paper follows up the key recommendations of the Total Preparedness Commission and contains more than 100 different measures. Among other things, the Government will:

• Draw up a long-term plan for civil preparedness, including police-related measures. This work is to begin in 2025.
• Make it a statutory requirement to establish emergency preparedness committees in all municipalities, regions and critical sectors of society where emergency preparedness actors, the voluntary sector and the business sector are to work together to prevent and manage crises, and conduct training exercises.
• Increase the number of conscripts in the Norwegian Civil Defence from 8 000 to 12 000 over a period of eight years.
• Request the Storting (Norwegian parliament) to repeal the 1998 decision to stop the construction of emergency shelters and introduce a requirement for all new buildings to include such shelters.
• Increase funding for voluntary organisations in the rescue services by NOK 100 million under an eight-year plan. This is in addition to the allocation of NOK 6 million in this year’s budget.
• Introduce legal provisions requiring civilians to work during security crises or war.
• Achieve 50 % food self-sufficiency by 2030 and a three-month contingency stock of grain by 2029.
• Begin work on a new cyber preparedness scheme, involving public and private sector cooperation, for handling serious cyber incidents.
• Strengthen national control by means of a preauthorisation arrangement for purchase of certain properties that may be of particular interest to malicious actors.
• Strengthen surveillance at sea and in the maritime sector in cooperation with the Norwegian Armed Forces.
• Develop a new system for registering ownership of properties in Norway that will supplement the new registry of actual owners of companies.
• Draw up a strategy for increasing resilience to disinformation and enhancing people’s ability to evaluate the credibility of sources.
• Contribute to NATO’s civilian resilience efforts and participate in Nordic and international cooperation on preparedness, for example in the health sector.
• Draw up a national security strategy.
• Appoint a total preparedness commission at regular intervals.