Norway is set to become the first country in the entire world to ban the use of gas to heat buildings.

The Scandinavian country, which is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas outside the Middle East, will wholly stop the use of both oil and paraffin to warm buildings from 2020 onwards.

The country, which hopes to ban the sale of all fossil fuel-based cars by 2025, has made a concerted effort to introduce policies which shrink domestic emission of greenhouse gases.

Vidar Helgesenlaid, the nation’s Environment Minister, laid out the plans in a statement, saying: “Those using fossil oil for heating must find other options by 2020.”

The country advises its citizens to research alternatives to oil such as heat pumps, hydroelectricity, and even special stoves that burn wood chips. By some stage, the legislation could be widened to include restrictions on using natural gas to heat buildings.

The Ministry of Climate and Environment said the ban would apply to both new and old buildings and cover both private homes and the public space of businesses and state-owned facilities.

The ministry says the plans are expected to lessen Norway's emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases by an estimated 340,000 tonnes per year, compared to overall national emissions of 53.9 million tonnes in 2015.

Norway's radioactive reindeer Show all 6 1 /6 Norway's radioactive reindeer Norway's radioactive reindeer There are more than 30,000 reindeer in Norway Although the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in Ukraine happened nearly 30 years ago and more than a thousand miles from Norway, the country's reindeer are still suffering from increased radioactivity. Amos Chapple, RFE/RL Norway's radioactive reindeer A reindeer eats lichen When the disaster happened, larger areas of were covered by clouds of radioactive dust. When it rained or snowed in Norway that dust made its way into the landscape, contaminating everything it touched. Amos Chapple, RFE/RL Norway's radioactive reindeer Semi-domestic reindeer roam freely around Norway's rugged landscape Norway's reindeer feed on lichen, mushrooms and grass. The unusually high radioactivity observed in the reindeer is thought to be linked to this years' bumper crop of mushrooms. Aina Bye Norway's radioactive reindeer Sami heard the reindeer several times a year Norway's indigenous people, the Sami, are known for their reindeer herding. The animals provide a vital source of income for them. Amos Chapple, RFE/RL Norway's radioactive reindeer Reindeer meat is widely eaten in Norway Because of the unusually high radioactivity measured in the reindeer, many are not fit for human consumption and so have been released back into the wild. Aina Bye Norway's radioactive reindeer The legacy of Chenobyl The Sami people of Norway fear that it could be many years before the reindeer return to normal levels of radioactivity. Amos Chapple, RFE/RL

Marius Holm, head of ZERO, a foundation that campaigns hard for cuts in emissions, celebrated the unprecedented policy change, saying: “This is a very important climate measure that significantly cuts emissions, sending a powerful signal that we are moving from fossil to renewable energy.”

Green organisations argue the fossil ban is something of a contradiction in terms given the country, which paradoxically is both an oil giant and a climate leader, gets half its export revenues from crude oil and natural gas.

Nevertheless, the new measure could pave way for other countries to follow suit as the building sector is a massive CO2 emitter. In the US, it accounts for 39 per cent of CO2 emissions.

Norway, which is widely seen to be becoming one of the most ecologically progressive countries worldwide, became the first country in the world to commit to zero deforestation last year.

The Norwegian parliament promised the government’s public procurement policy will become deforestation-free after a committee of MPs recommended imposing regulations to ensure the state did "not contribute to deforestation of the rainforest".