20 October 2009, Oslo, Norway

On 20 October 2009, Norway’s chief negotiator at the climate talks, Ms. Hanne Bjurstrøm, has been appointed a minister in Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s new coalition government. Bjurstrøm will have a special assignment as minister for climate negotiations until the 15th Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen is finished in December. She will lead the Norwegian delegation together with her former boss, and now colleague, Minister of Environment and Development, Erik Solheim. Bjurstrøm, who is a lawyer of education, is now a public official and has served as chief negotiator for the international climate negotiations since 2003. Her appointment as minister was the biggest surprise when Stoltenberg presented the list of ministers in his reshuffled government .