Climate activists have once again turned to the Norwegian courts, this time suing the government over development plans at a handful of oil and gas fields under the sea off its coast.
“It is time that the government puts children’s best interests first in oil matters, and stops fueling the climate crisis by locking us into decades of more oil and gas,” Gina Gylver, head of Young Friends of the Earth Norway, said Tuesday.
The case argues that development plans at the Breidablikk, Tyrving and Yggdrasil oil and gas fields, approved by the ministry of energy in 2021 and 2023, are invalid.
The government has failed to fully assess the effect of carbon dioxide emissions associated with the fields and therefore the climate impact of their development, according to court filings submitted by Greenpeace Norway and Young Friends of the Earth.
The state will argue that the decisions are valid and that the impact assessments are in line with existing regulations, according to separate court filings. The decisions are neither based on incorrect facts nor unjustifiable forecasts, it said.
It is not the first case challenging Norway’s oil and gas policy. In 2017, the same two environmental organizations, along with six young climate activists, argued that allowing oil exploration in the Arctic during a climate crisis breaches fundamental human rights.
After failing to persuade the Supreme Court after a series of appeals, the groups submitted their case to the European Court of Human Rights.
The Petroleum and Energy Ministry will present their opening argument on Wednesday.
The docket number for the case in the Oslo District Court is 23-099330TVI-TOSL/05.
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