Court orders Estonian state energy firm to halt shale oil plant construction

Judges rule environmental impact in Narva-Jõesuu had not been fully assessed after activists brought case

Estonia’s supreme court has ordered the state energy company Enefit to halt construction on a shale oil facility because of the damage it will do to the environment.

Young activists took the municipality of Narva-Jõesuu to court over claims the building permit it granted breached international climate agreements. The court ruled it had assessed the climate impact well enough but not the environmental impact, and revoked the permit.

“It’s remarkable that the first climate court case in Estonia – and in the Baltics – ended in a win,” said Kertu Birgit Anton, an activist with the Estonian branch of Fridays for Future, which brought the case. “Every ton of greenhouse gases that we keep out of the atmosphere is a victory for the wellbeing of society and nature.”

The court found the company had failed to properly account for its impact on Puhatu, a nature reserve on one of Estonia’s biggest wetlands that is home to several rare species and is protected by the EU’s birds and habitats directives. Enefit has been approached for comment.

Alan Tasar, from the city municipality, said the authorities would work to “eliminate” the deficiencies in the plan as soon as possible. “A significant part of our residents are directly or indirectly related to the large companies here. Their extinction would spell disaster for the region.”

Estonia, a country of 1.3 million people, has no climate law but is committed to the EU’s target of climate neutrality by 2050. In its ruling, the court said it was necessary to establish “a realistic and legally binding” plan to phase out emissions in good time.

“The absence of such a plan would create great uncertainty for individuals regarding the permissibility of many activities in the coming years,” it said in a statement.

People in small countries often say their emissions do not matter but this is not true, said Anton. “The emissions that result from this plant operating – and from burning the oil produced there – are greater than the emissions from dozens of different small countries. From another country’s perspective, this plant is actually very significant.”

Photograph: Ints Kalniņš/Reuters - A shale oil power plant in Auvere, Estonia. The country is committed to the EU’s target of climate neutrality by 2050.