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Natural Hazards and Public Safety
Hans J. Røsjorde, Deputy Minister, The Ministry of Justice and Public Security
Our society is exposed to a broad and complex range of risks and threats. This year’s
Academies joint symposium focuses particularly on threats associated with natural
hazards. I will therefore not be addressing threats such as terror and major data
hacking in my contribution, although these clearly are of critical concern in a modern
society on which we set strong focus in the Ministry of Justice and Public Security
(JD).
The Government has the highest level of responsibility, i.e. over and above
the responsibility delegated to county and local authorities, for both the risk
assessment of potential natural disasters in Norway and for putting mitigation
measures in place to deal with such emergencies, should they occur. This includes
the political responsibility for the management and planning for potential societal
threats. According to our State traditions in Norway, each cabinet minister has the
constitutional responsibility for his or her area within the laws and national budget,
as determined by the Parliament (Stortinget).
Each cabinet minister retains this constitutional responsibility in a crisis
situation, while the Ministry of Justice and Public Security has the overall
responsibility for co-ordinating the Government’s policy and mitigation and
response measures. Accordingly, JD is the lead Ministry in all civil national crises if
nothing else has specifically been decided, and carries the main responsibility for the
resources for civil public safety and civil rescue operations in Norway.
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security has the following organisations at
its disposal for carrying out its responsibility:
The Police Directorate
The Directorate for Societal Safety and Preparedness and the Civil Defence
The Directorate for Emergency Communications
The National Centres for Rescue Operations
The 330 Squadron (Sea King rescue helicopters)
A series of initiatives have recently been launched within these organisations to
improve their preparedness for emergency situations.
Long-term plan for research
Public safety and emergency preparedness are characterised by a sequence of
activities whereof the following are fundamental requirements:
knowledge, risk