Norway: Best prepared in world for climate change Norway is the best prepared country in the world to cope with and combat climate change, said a study on Wednesday. The survey by the University of Notre Dame, Indiana in the US, revealed that Norway is the envy of environmentalists everywhere when it comes to handling climate change. Every year the university ranks countries according to how exposed they are to extreme weather, natural catastrophes, and how well equipped these countries are to handling the related challenges. The accolade is perhaps of less merit to the Scandinavian nation this year as Norway been top of the list for almost 20 years. Norway's Minister of the Environment, Tine Sundtoft, said: "I'm happy for this confirmation of Norway's ongoing work handling the consequences of climate change." New Zealand, Sweden, Finland and Denmark were just behind Norway at the top of the list. The bottom five countries - those least prepared for climate change - were Chad, Burundi, Eritrea, Central African Republic and Congo. Sundtoft said: "Norway's long coastline and high mountains has made weather and climate influence Norwegians" everyday lives for a millennia - and it still does. Norway has therefore great experience with handling extreme weather. "We will continue to work together with the global community in order to meet the challenges all of us face," she added.