Today, Greenpeace Nordic and Natur og Ungdom (Young Friends of the Earth Norway) are once again facing the Norwegian government in the Norwegian Supreme Court for a new hearing as a part of the appeal proceedings regarding specific oil and gas field production. The organisations are alarmed about the climate impacts of three oil and gas fields in the North Sea and demand an immediate halt to their development and production.
In its original landmark January 2024 judgement, the Oslo District Court agreed with Greenpeace Nordic and Natur og Ungdom that the lack of impact assessments on the global climate effects for the three oil and gas fields – Yggdrasil, Tyrving and Breidablikk – violates Norwegian and European Economic Area (EEA) law, therefore invalidating their approvals. The Court also issued injunctions forbidding the State from granting any new permits necessary to construct and produce from the fields while the lawsuit is progressing through the court system.[1] However, the State appealed the decisions, and the injunctions were overruled by the Appeals Court in October 2024. The organisations' appeal will now be assessed by a panel of five judges at the Norwegian Supreme Court in Oslo on March 18 and 19.
"We disagree with the Court of Appeal's decision. We have faith in our judicial system and are looking forward to presenting our case to the Supreme Court. We are confident that the judges will deliver the right decision, putting people and nature before oil profits," said Frode Pleym, Head of Greenpeace in Norway.
The Court of Appeal largely agreed with Greenpeace and Natur og Ungdom that the new oil projects will damage the climate, providing a basis for an injunction. However, the Court found that it lacked the competence to uphold the injunction because it considered an injunction would be seen as an attack on all petroleum activity on the Norwegian continental shelf, thereby invalidating all recently approved oil and gas projects.
The organisations expect a win in the Supreme Court, also since two similar cases already succeeded in the UK. In the Finch case [2], the UK Supreme Court found that combustion emissions must be included in the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for new projects, and in a Scottish court, in a case led by Greenpeace UK, which found that the Rosebank and Jackdaw [3] oil and gas projects in the North Sea were unlawful due to the lack of such assessments.
"We are confident that the Norwegian Supreme Court will deliver justice. The evidence is clear: these oil fields should never have been approved without proper climate impact assessments. This is not just about winning a case - it's about securing a future where the rights of our planet and future generations come first", said Sigrid Hoddevik Losnegård, Head of Natur og Ungdom (Young Friends of the Earth Norway).
Late in 2024, the organisations faced the State in Luxembourg at the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) hearing. The case's main claim was whether the three oil and gas fields in the North Sea were approved on invalid grounds.[4] The EFTA Court is to provide guidance on how an EU law, specifically a Project Directive, should be interpreted. The advisory opinion will be part of the Court's assessment when the case returns to the Norwegian Court of Appeals later this year.
