New round in climate court case begins to appeal Norway oil drilling in Arctic.

A new round in the climate court case to stop the Norwegian Government drilling oil in the Arctic Ocean begins on Tuesday 5th November.

On Tuesday, the next round will start in the climate court case in Borgarting Court of Appeal where Nature and Youth and Greenpeace have sued the Norwegian state for the opening of new oil drilling in the Barents Sea.

When the Norwegian Government announced that they planned to allow oil exploration in parts of the Arctic Ocean, they faced a backlash from the public over environmental concerns.

This led to people taking to the streets to protest against the opening of this fossil fuel project and to come out in support for the climate emergency.

Frode Pleym, Lleader in Greenpeace Norway, said: “Norway has both legal and moral responsibility for the oil we produce regardless of whether it is burned in Norway or in other countries. For the world's climate, it does not matter where in the world the emissions occur. We have signed the Paris Agreement, and thus we have committed ourselves to work to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees. The research shows that the existing fields take us past the climate target, so we cannot open up new areas for oil drilling.”

In a series of reports published by Greenpeace, the campaign group found that Norway is the world’s seventh largest exporter of emissions. Norway’s prospective new oil and gas fields would lead to 150% more emissions than what is in currently operating fields.

Environmentalists say that the proposed oil drilling in the Arctic would go against the IPCC’s recommendation for countries to be net zero by 2050, limiting Norway’s success to meet this target and harming the environment further.

Gaute Eiterjord, Head of Nature and Youth, said: “Over the past year, tens of thousands of young people in Norway, and millions globally, have taken to the streets and protested against the failure of politicians. We will have no future if they do not solve the climate crisis. It should not be necessary for young people to take leadership where the adult politicians fail, but we have no choice, and so we take the fight for our future to the courtroom.”

Photograph: Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement

5 November 2019

Climate Action