Morten Harket and Harald N. Røstvik in Stavanger, 16 November 2021

Morten visited the University of Stavanger on 16 November, to take part in the previously mentioned screening of The Sunshine Revolution and subsequent discussion together with Professor Harald N. Røstvik.

A video of the whole event is available to watch on YouTube.

The Sunshine Revolution (1991) focused on the enormous potential of solar energy, and how it could play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Although there’s been progress in the field since then, Røstvik pointed out that a lot more should have been done, but he’s still optimistic about the future.

Harald: “The sad thing really, watching this film thirty years on, is that we knew then [that] this could be done in a much more practical and better way than what we’ve done over the last thirty years. So we’ve lost a lot of time, that’s the sad thing. But I suppose that’s the process also. I must say though, I felt at the time I was on a loser’s team. Today I feel I’m on a winner’s team. I think there is a completely different attitude to these issues in the world. And anybody can sense the urgency, and the need to act and not just talk. And that’s the big difference from [back] then.”

Morten: “But not through enlightenment. It’s because we’re scared. That’s the main reason why the world is responding. And that’s what it takes, quite simply, because we knew everything that we’re concerned of today [thirty years ago]. And we were not the only ones, there were a lot of people already back then who were involved in the same issues. But that’s what it takes for us to respond. We need to be shook so deep that we don’t dare to not act. And that’s leaving it very late. And costly. And that’s just a fact.”