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).

Interviewed on animal ethics in UIB video production "Etiske dilemmaer"; launched on Viten-TV

About a week ago, philosopher Espen Gamlund and the University of Bergen launched the video series "Etiske dilemmaer" (Ethical dilemmas) on Viten-TV, a Norwegian online platform for academic video content. The first episode, "Dyr" (Animals), features interviews with me, Stefan Riedener and Aksel Braanen Sterri, while Gamlund acts as presenter and interviewer.

Edits performed in six SNL encyclopedia entries

Minor edits I have made previously have now been approved in six encyclopedia articles in Store Norske Leksikon (SNL), namely "antroposentrisk", "dypøkologi", "dyreetikk", "miljøfilosofi", "rettssubjekt" and "økosofi".

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.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" surpasses "The ethics of laying hen genetics" as my most read article, with 17.000 accesses

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA", which was published Autumn 2023, now has 17.000 accesses. This compares to about 14.000 accesses by March this year, and likely makes it my most read article, ahead of "The ethics of laying hen genetics" (2019) which now stands at 16.000 accesses.

See also:

My 10 most read Springer Nature articles; ca. 60.000 accesses in total (March 2025)

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.

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.

Responsible for environmental ethics in Store Norske Leksikon

I have been recruited as responsible (fagansvarlig) for environmental ethics in Store Norske Leksikon, which is the largest and most read edited encyclopedia in Norway and written by professionals. The category now also includes animal ethics.

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.

Seminar "Ethics in a time of animal crisis" held; presentation given

Today I have attended, co-chaired, and presented at the seminar "Ethics in a time of animal crisis", held at university of Stavanger at the occasion of Alice Crary´s Steffens lecture 2024 at University of Stavanger (November 21st), and co-organised by Cato Wittusen and me. Some 25 people attended the seminar, which featured presentations by Hannah Winther, Dolly Jørgensen and me, with Alice Crary and the audience responding. My talk was titled «The range of dignity and suffering».

Alice Crary introduced at the occasion of the Steffens lecture 2024 at UIS; dinner

Yesterday evening I introduced Alice Crary when she gave the Steffens lecture 2024 at University of Stavanger, "All justice is animal justice". The event was well attended, with some 2-300 people attending in person. The lecture was also recorded and will later be made available online. 

Photo credit: University of Stavanger

After the lecture I joined Alice and some others, including University of Stavanger rector Klaus Mohn, for dinner at Bellies, a top-notch local vegan restaurant.

Lecture "What is it like to be an animal?" held at Dyreetikkonferansen 2024; panel discussion participation

Today I have taken part in Dyreetikkonferansen 2024 (The Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference 2024), which took place at Litteraturhuset in Oslo and had the theme «Er du bevisst dyrs bevissthet?» (Are you conscious of animals´ consciousness?). Before lunch, I gave the talk «Hvordan er det å være et dyr?» (What is it like to be an animal?), with some 100 people attending in person and about 30 people online.

After lunch I took part in a panel debate on the conference theme and what implications it has in practice, along with Hilde Buer (sheep farmer and author), Ragnhild Aven Svalheim (NOFIMA), Eline Åsbjer (SLU) and Themis Altintzoglou (NOFIMA). Cecilie Mejdell was chair. Maybe 50 people attended in person at this point, and maybe 30 online.

Interviewed in UIS news story about Alice Crary Steffens lecture 2024

I am interviewed in the University of Stavanger news story "Henrik Steffens-forelesningen 2024: Alice Crary om dyrs rettigheter og menneskets verdighet", which is composed by Karen Anne Okstad and also released as a press release.

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.

Interviewed on laying hen breeding in magazine Ren mat

This Spring I was interviewed for a story in the magazine Ren mat, titled "Alle egg i samme kurv" (All eggs in the same basket). The theme for the feature article is the dominant breeding companies in the egg business. Journalist: Anette Schive. The story links to our article "The Ethics of Laying Hen Genetics".