Norway may have been beaten to the punch by Vatican City, but in a long-standing tradition of doing things better than the rest of us, the “Land of the Midnight Sun” clearly hasn’t given up its goal of becoming carbon neutral before everyone else. Originally slated to become a “zero-emission” state by 2050, the Norwegian government announced yesterday that they are ahead of schedule. Now, through a combination of cutting green house gas emissions, cultivating forests and trading carbon offsets, the country aims to accomplish that goal 20 years sooner than planned. Approximately two-thirds of gas/carbon reduction will be done within Norwegian territory, while the rest will be achieved through international emissions trading.

The decision to push forward the deadline came about after intense negotiations between the country’s center-left government and other leading political parties. In order to pay for the new, faster schedule, fuel tax will be raised by 10-øre (2 cents) per liter of diesel and by 5-øre per liter of petrol.