Oslo, Norway – The Court of Appeals in Oslo just rendered the judgement of the Norwegian climate lawsuit. While the Norwegian Court rightly upholds the Constitution which guarantees everyone’s right to a healthy environment, it doesn’t acknowledge the environmental boundaries breached by awarding 10 oil drilling licenses in the Arctic.

Read
the full judgement text (in Norwegian) here.

“We
are happy the Norwegian Court of Appeals acknowledges current and future
generations’ right to a healthy environment and that right also includes the
duty to take into account the full emissions from the burning of Norwegian oil,
wherever that takes place. This is an important legal victory on the right to a
healthy environment under the Norwegian Constitution,” said head of Greenpeace
Norway Frode Pleym.

“This
is a big step closer to guaranteeing our future and sending a message that we
can’t afford to drill for new oil. The Norwegian Court of Appeal is standing
behind the constitutional right to a healthy environment, and finding that the
Norwegian government could be responsible for emissions made by Norwegian oil
burned abroad,” said head of co-plaintiff Nature & Youth Therese Woie.

“Still, the Court finds that the threshold for invalidating
the oil drilling licences is not breached. The co-plaintiffs will appeal the
judgement to Supreme Court, as it is clear that this necessitates further
review by the judiciary,” said Frode Pleym.

The
Court of Appeal additionally found that the case raises important principles
pertaining to the environment and the living conditions for current and future
generations. Thus it has ruled that Greenpeace and Nature and Youth do not need
to bear the government’s costs from the District Court nor the Court of Appeal.

“People,
government and polluting industries across the world should take note: This is
what can be achieved by a growing and powerful youth and environmental movement
who are determined to take ownership of their human right to a sustainable
future,” says Therese Woie, head of Nature & Youth.

Norway
is the 7th biggest exporter of climate-wrecking emissions on the planet. The
country’s total exported greenhouse gas emissions are ten times bigger than the
domestic emissions from the production.  

Media
briefing: here

Legal
documents: here

Photos
for press use can be found here

Notes

It’s the first case to challenge the drilling for oil and gas
based on the Paris Agreement, and it is the first time the rights contained in
Norwegian Constitutional Article §112 is invoked in court.

The
plaintiffs have filed the legal case against the Norwegian government for
granting oil licenses to 13 companies in the 23rd licensing in the Barents Sea.

The oil
companies are: Equinor (formerly Statoil, Norway), Capricorn, Tullow and
Centrica (UK), Chevron and ConocoPhillips (USA), DEA (Germany), Aker BP
(Norway), Idemitsu (Japan), Lukoil (Russia), Lundin Petroleum (Sweden), OMV
(Austria), PGNiG (Norway/Poland). 

Since
the lawsuit was filed, Chevron and Tullow Oil Norge have sold their share in
the licenses. Centrica Resources and Bayerngaz Norge have merged into Spirit
Energy.

Contacts

Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace Norway. Mobile: +47 97307378

Therese Hugstmyr Woie, head of Nature & Youth in Norway. Mobile: +47 46892288

Poul Bonke Justesen, international
communications lead, Greenpeace. Mobile: +45 26294938

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), [email protected]

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