Sveinung Rotevatn
Rotevatn in 2015.
First Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party
Assumed office
26 September 2020
LeaderGuri Melby
Preceded byOla Elvestuen
Minister of Climate and the Environment
In office
24 January 2020 – 14 October 2021
Prime MinisterErna Solberg
Preceded byOla Elvestuen
Succeeded byEspen Barth Eide
State Secretary for the Ministry of Climate and the Environment
In office
12 October 2018 – 24 January 2020
Prime MinisterErna Solberg
MinisterOla Elvestuen
State Secretary for the Ministry of Justice and Public Security
In office
17 January 2018 – 12 October 2018
Prime MinisterErna Solberg
MinisterSylvi Listhaug
Tor Mikkel Wara
Member of the Storting
Assumed office
1 October 2021
DeputyAne Breivik (2021)
ConstituencyHordaland
In office
1 October 2013 – 2 October 2017
ConstituencySogn og Fjordane
Leader of the Young Liberals
In office
16 October 2010 – 26 October 2013
Preceded byAnne Solsvik
Succeeded byTord Hustveit
Personal details
Born (1987-05-15) 15 May 1987 (age 36)
Nordfjordeid, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
Political partyLiberal

Sveinung Rotevatn (born 15 May 1987) is a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. Rotevatn comes from Nordfjordeid, Sogn og Fjordane, and has a master's degree in law from the University of Bergen.[1] He served as Minister of Climate and the Environment from 2020 to 2021.[2] Prior to that, he served as a state secretary at the same department from 2018 to 2020 under then minister Ola Elvestuen.

Career

Young Liberals

Rotevatn became the leader of the Young Liberals of Norway, the Liberal Party's youth wing, in 2010 and was succeeded in October 2013 by Tord Hustveit.[3][4]

Other

In 2013, Bergens Tidende called him the biggest political talent in Norway.[5]

Parliament

Rotevatn was elected an MP from the Sogn og Fjordane county constituency in the 2013 Norwegian parliamentary election.[6] He failed to win re-election in the 2017 election, but was later appointed State Secretary to the Department of Justice and Public Security when the Liberal Party went into coalition government with the Conservative Party and the Progress Party on 17 January 2018.

He was re-elected to the Storting in the 2021 election, this time from Hordaland.

In January 2022, both he and his successor as environment minister, Espen Barth Eide, agreed that Norwegian politicians had not done enough to fight climate change. Rotevatn stated: "I take responsibility for every ton of CO2 we emitted and did not emit when I was Minister of Climate. I'm glad the emissions went down when the Liberal Party ruled, but it has not gone down fast enough".[7]

Minister of Climate and the Environment

On 24 January 2020, following the Progress Party's withdrawal from government, he was appointed Minister of the Environment.[2]

Party deputy leader

In May 2020, he announced his intention to run for the party leadership in September to succeed outgoing leader Trine Skei Grande. At the time, he became the first person to announce his run for leader following Grande's decision to resign.[8]

On 23 August, he was designated deputy leader of the party, with Abid Raja as second deputy and Melby as party leader, unanimously by the party's election committee.[9]

At the party conference in September, he was elected first deputy leader, with Melby as leader and Raja as second deputy, unopposed.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Sveinung Rotevatn - Stortingskandidat for V i Sogn og Fjordane".
  2. ^ a b "Den nye regjeringen presentert på Slottsplassen" (in Norwegian). Romerikes Blad. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  3. ^ Christoffer Torris Olsen (2010-10-17). "Sveinung Rotevatn ny leder i Unge Venstre". Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  4. ^ "Tord Hustveit ny leder i Unge Venstre" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  5. ^ "Politikk og sirkus". 2013-08-30. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  6. ^ Representantprognose for Sogn og Fjordane Kommunal- og regionaldepartementet, 10 September 2013
  7. ^ "Klimaministeren: Norske politikere har gjort en for dårlig jobb i alle år" (in Norwegian). ABC Nyheter. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Rotevatn vil bli Venstre-leder" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Guri Melby: Forberedt på å kjempe om ledervervet" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 23 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Guri Melby valgt som ny leder i Venstre:– Jeg blir helt rørt" (in Norwegian). TV2. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
Party political offices Preceded byOla Elvestuen First Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party 2020–present Incumbent Preceded byAnne Solsvik Leader of Young Liberals of Norway 2010–2013 Succeeded byTord Hustveit Political offices Preceded byOla Elvestuen Minister of Climate and the Environment 2020–2021 Succeeded byEspen Barth Eide
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