Council for animal ethics meeting partially attended

Today I attended most of the digital meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics (though I missed out on the first 75 minutes or so of the meeting due to teaching duties).

Dialogue meeting on regulatory development on animal welfare in aquaculture attended

On Monday June 8th I attended a so-called dialogue meeting with Mattilsynet (Norwegian Food Safety Authority) on behalf of Norway´s Council for animal ethics concerning regulatory development for animal welfare in aquaculture (this was the second such meeting on this theme I have attended this Spring).

Council for animal ethics meeting attended in Oslo

Today I have attended Council for animal ethics´ meeting in Oslo (at Næringslivets hus). This is one of four meetings this year, two of which are now physical (and two digital, due to an insufficient budget).

Dialogue meeting with Norwegian Food Safety Authority on animal welfare regulations in aquaculture attended

Today I have attended an online "Dialogue meeting" with Mattilsynet (the Norwegian Food Safety Authority) in relation to their ongoing work on regulatory development concerning animal welfare in aquaculture. I attended as one of the representatives of Norway´s Council for Animal Ethics, along with the council´s Secretary, Lina Ahlén and three others. Three animal welfare/rights organizations also took part.

Consultative meeting attended for Council for animal ethics at Norway´s Ministry of Finance

Today I attended a meeting at the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, in Oslo, representing Norway´s Council for animal ethics (along with the council´s secretary Lina Ahlén and chair Knut E. Bøe) in a consultation a committe that is tasked with suggesting changes to the ethics framework of the Norwegian "oil fund" (formally called Government Pension Fund Global, or Statens Pensjonsfond Utland in Norwegian) organized with selected civil society organizations. Lina and I jointly presented "SPU og dyrevelferd" (Government Pension Fund Global and animal welfare), with definitions, information and recommendations addressed to the committee.

Council for animal ethics meeting attended

Today I have attended a meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics, at Næringslivets hus in Oslo. Among other things, we discussed the consultative statement we are in the process of writing on climate change and animal ethics, and recent developments in the ethical work that is done in relation to Norway´s Government Pension Fund Global.

Panel discussion chaired at Animal Ethics Conference 2025 on animals´ death

Today I have attended Norway´s Animal Ethics Conference (Dyreetikkonferansen) 2025, which had the theme "Når dyr dør. Perspektiver på livets slutt" (When animals die. Perspectives on the end of life) and was held at Litteraturhuset in Oslo. I chaired the panel discussion which took place at the end of the day. The panel included all the presenters, namely Espen Gamlund (UIB), Elisiv Tolo (Animalia), Helen Øvregaard (Vet-Talk), Steffen Tretvoll (Norsk Vegansamfunn), Jon M. Arnemo (Universitetet i Innlandet), Åsa Maria O. Espmark. More than 150 people were registered for the conference, which is organised by Norway´s Council for animal ethics.

Meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics attended; ongoing work on consultative statement on climate concerns and animal ethics

Today I have attended the third meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics held this year (I also attended the second, in June, whereas I fell sick on my way to the first in February). The meeting was held digitally. Among other topics we discussed the organisation of this year´s Animal ethics conference (Dyreetikkonferansen), which takes place November 17th in Oslo. We also touched upon a consultative statement on trade-offs between climate concerns and animal ethics concerns in food production which a work group which includes me currently works on.

Interviewed live on NRK on the ethics of cloning animals (and humans)

This morning I was interviewed live on Norwegian national TV and radio, in the NRK program Nyhetsmorgen, which is broadcasted on NRK1 (TV) and P1 (radio), in the news feature "Etikk rundt kloning av dyr" (Ethics about cloning of animals). The news feature related to a news story published last weekend about Kristin G. Andresen´s cloning of a horse. Marte Kaasa Arntsen was the program host.

Council for animal ethics meeting

Monday this week, June 16th, I attended the meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics, in Oslo.

Consultative statement on Norway´s oil fund´s investments in food production; working group headed by me

In October last Autumn, Norway´s Council for animal ethics, of which I am a member, published the consultative statement "Uttalelse vedrørende oljefondets investeringer i internasjonal matproduksjon" (Statement regarding the Norwegian Petroleum Fund's investments in international food production), a 27 pp. document written by me, Espen Gamlund, Eli Berge Ness and Rudi Ripman Seim, and discussed and approved by the council. I led the working group that was tasked with drafting the statement. The formal name of the Norwegian "oil fund" is Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG). The fund is the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world.

Chronicle on pension fund GPFG and animal welfare published in Nationen

The chronicle "Støtter pensjonspengene våre dårlig dyrevelferd?" (Do our pension funds support poor animal welfare?), which I co-wrote with Knut Egil Bøe, Cecilie Mejdell, Espen Gamlund, Eli Berge Ness and Rudi Ripman Seim, was published in the Norwegian daily newspaper Nationen online January 2nd and in print January 3rd. We are all involved in Norway´s Council for animal ethics, and the chronicle disseminates main observations from the council´s consultative statement on the Norwegian "oil fund", formally called Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), and its investments in food production internationally.

Featured in Nationen news story about the Norwegian animal ethics conference 2024

The Norwegian daily newspaper Nationen has a 2-page news story about the Norwegian animal ethics conference 2024 (Dyreetikkonferansen 2024) which took place last week with animal consciousness as theme. The news story features an image and quotes from my presentation. In the image caption I am quoted as saying that our understanding of other beings is always somewhat limited.

To speak at Dyreetikkonferansen 2024

I have been scheduled to present at Dyreetikkonferansen 2024 (the Norwegian animal ethics conference 2024), which takes place at Litteraturhuset, Oslo, on Wednesday November 20th, with the theme "Er du bevisst dyrs bevissthet?" (Are you conscious of animals´ consciousness?). The title of my talk is "Hvordan er det å være et dyr?" (What is it like to be an animal?).

More info (in Norwegian) on the website of Norway´s Council for animal ethics.

Digital Council for animal ethics meeting attended

Today I have attended the digital full day meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics, held online due to a lack of funds. Among the topics were the council´s work with a consultative statement on Norway´s Government Pension Fund Global and their investment in international food business, which I have coordinated and led.

Council of animal ethics meeting attended

Yesterday I attended the meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics, which was held at Thon Hotel Opera in Oslo. Among other things, I gave a status report on our consultative statement on the Norwegian pension fund global´s investments in food production and similar, and on two international declarations on animal consciousness (Cambridge and New York).

Council of animal ethics meeting attended; encountering GPFG Council on ethics representatives

Yesterday I attended a meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics, the first this year, at Thon Hotel Opera in Oslo. Among other things, we were visited by representatives of the Council on ethics of Norway´s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG).

CRISTIN reporting for 2023: 35 posts

Today I have finished registered 2023 activities in Cristin, the Current Research Information System in Norway, totaling 35 posts, which brings the total of my profile page to 355. The 2023 activities include 3 scientific articles, one of which a brief communication, two book chapters, an earlier journal article now reprinted as a book chapter, and the softcover version of the book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism which I co-wrote with Alexei Sharov, 8 scientific conference talks, 2 brief reports (or rather consultative statements) issued by Norway´s Council for animal ethics, and 3 interviews.

Interviewed on treatment of animals on NRK P2´s Ekko, with Andreas Haga

Today I was interviewed on NRK P2´s radio program Ekko, along with Andreas Haga, with Rikke Eckoff as program manager, on why we treat animals so differently. I was presented as Professor of philosophy at University of Stavanger, and a member of Norway´s Council for animal ethics. The section, which was recorded live, lasts for some 20 minutes.

Council for animal ethics chronicle in print version of Nationen today

Our chronicle on behalf of Norway´s Council for animal ethics "Brennende etiske temaer knyttet til dyrevelferd i Norge" (literally: Burning ethical themes related to animal welfare in Norway) is today included in the print version of the Norwegian daily Nationen.

See also: 

Chronicle on animal welfare challenges in Norway published in Nationen online