For more than forty years, the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management (DN) and the Norwegian Climate and Pollution Agency (Klif) have played a key role in preserving nature, reducing pollution, and shaping Norwegian environmental policy. Effective 1 July 2013 we merged into a single agency for environmental matters, the Norwegian Environment Agency, under the Ministry of the Environment.Ellen Hambro is the director general of the Norwegian Environment Agency. The Norwegian Environment Agency is the largest agency under the Ministry of the Environment with approximately 700 employees, most of whom work at our offices in Trondheim and Oslo. The sections that are primarily responsible for nature management are located in Trondheim, while the sections that are primarily responsible for climate and pollution issues are located in Oslo. The Norwegian Nature Inspectorate (SNO) is part of the agency, with employees at more than sixty local offices.Managing Norwegian nature and preventing pollutionThe Norwegian Environment Agency will be instrumental in nature management and pollution control.Our functions are to monitor the state of the environment, convey environment-related information, exercise authority, oversee and guide regional and municipal authorities, collaborate with the authorities of relevant sectors, act as an expert advisor, and assist in international environmental efforts.