Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Brende to speak at Rice’s Baker Institute April 14

MEDIA ADVISORY

David Ruth
david@rice.edu
713-348-6327

Jeff Falk
jfalk@rice.edu
713-348-6775

Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Brende to speak at Rice’s Baker Institute April 14
Media availability to follow Brende’s remarks

HOUSTON – (April 1, 2014) – Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende will discuss global energy challenges and opportunities as seen from his country’s perspective at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy April 14.

The public event is co-sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in Houston.

Børge Brende

Who: Børge Brende, minister of foreign affairs of Norway.

Edward Djerejian, founding director of the Baker Institute, will give welcoming remarks.

Jostein Mykletun, consul general of Norway in Houston, will present introductory remarks.

What: “Global Energy Challenges and Opportunities as Seen From Norway” presentation.

When: Monday, April 14, 7:30-9 a.m. Breakfast will be served at 7:30 and the presentation will begin at 8.

Media are invited to the breakfast presentation and a media availability with Brende will take place from 9 to 9:30 in Baker Hall’s Room 111. To participate, RSVP to jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

Where: Rice University, Baker Hall, Doré Commons, 6100 Main St.

Brende was previously managing director of the World Economic Forum (2011-2013 and 2008-2009) and secretary-general of Red Cross Norway (2009-2011). He served as Norway’s minister of trade and industry from 2004 to 2005 and as minister of the environment from 2001 to 2004. He was deputy chair of the Conservative Party from 1994 to 1998 and served as a member of the Storting (the Norwegian parliament) for more than 10 years.

Brende started his political career in 1985 as a political adviser for the Young Conservatives. He chaired the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development from 2003 to 2004 and was a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (an advisory body to the Chinese government) from 2005 to 2013. He has served as chair of the board of Mesta, Norway’s largest onshore contracting group, and as a member of the board of Statoil.

A live webcast will be available at http://bakerinstitute.org/webcasts.

For a map of Rice University’s campus, go to www.rice.edu/maps/maps.html.

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Related materials:

Brende bio: www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/about_mfa/minister_bb.html?id=742868

Djerejian bio: http://bakerinstitute.org/experts/edward-p-djerejian

Mykletun bio: www.norway.org/Embassy/houston/Jostein-Mykletun-Consul-General-in-Houston/#.UzWa9fldWup

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Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks among the top 15 university-affiliated think tanks in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.