Thorbjørn Berntsen

Thorbjørn Berntsen in Oslo (2007)

Thorbjørn Berntsen (born April 13, 1935 in Oslo ) is a Norwegian politician of the Social Democratic Labor Party and a former member of the Storting and Minister.

Life

Berntsen is a trained ship plumber and worked for Akers Verft from 1951 to 1966 . At the same time he became increasingly involved in trade union work. Since 1965 he was the substitute delegate of the Labor Party for the Storting. Between 1971 and 1977 he represented various members of parliament on a permanent basis before finally being elected to parliament himself in 1977. In 1989 the party elected him deputy chairman. He held this office for three years until 1992.

From 1990 to 1997, Berntsen was Norwegian Environment Minister . Since 1993 also member of the Norwegian State Council. He made a name for himself as an opponent of the British Sellafield reprocessing plant . He is also considered to be one of the leading forces in shaping the Norwegian Occupational Safety and Health Act. Overall, he represented the Oslo constituency and the Labor Party for five legislative terms until he retired from parliament in 1997. After his time as a member of parliament, Thorbjørn Berntsen was involved in various organizations in the field of nature and environmental protection.

Web links

• Biography. Stortinget.no (Norwegian)