Climate activists target Norway's arctic oil extraction at the European Court of Human Rights

Announced today in the media, the lawsuit against Norway was issued by six young activists and two non-governmental organizations: Natur og Ungdom (Young Friends of the Earth Norway) and Greenpeace. They argue that the decision to open up for new oil drilling in the Barents Sea is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Five years ago and for the first time in 20 years, Norway opened up a new area in the Barents Sea for oil and gas exploration. Since then, 13 companies have received the authorization to drill there. Today, the activists resort to a lawsuit to stop this exploitation which violates several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. Aged between 20 and 27 years old, the young activists behind the lawsuit include members of the Sami people, the Indigenous people living in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Sami people, their culture, and their way of life are particularly endangered by the climate crisis and the increasing exploitation of natural resources in Norway. As Lasse Eriksen Bjørn puts it: “As a young person from the Sea Sámi culture, I fear the impact that climate change will have on my people’s way of life. The Sámi culture is closely related to the use of nature, and fisheries are essential. For our culture to continue without the traditional harvesting of the oceans would be impossible. A threat to our oceans is a threat to our people”. Sami musician Ella Maria Hætta Isaksen counts also among the sixth activists and enhances that “We have to take action now to limit irreversible damage to our climate and ecosystems to ensure livelihoods for the coming generations.” Let's share their story and support them in this battle which hopefully will have a better ending than in 2020 when Norway's top court rejected the lawsuit filed by four environmental organizations about oil drilling in the Barents Sea. https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/2021/06/arctic-drilling-violation-human-rights https://nu.no/saker/klimasoksmal/2021/06/vi-klager-klimasoksmalet-til-en-internasjonal-domstol/ (Norwegian)

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Natur og Ungdom

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150 w

We are really proud to finally have announced this application til the European Court of Human Rights, together with the six applicants and Greenpeace. Our organization has worked against norwegian oil drilling for decades, and a just transition away from this industry is now urgent. Both for the global climate impact, for the vulnerable arctic ecosystems and to reduce the economic risk the government takes when gambling against the climate targets with new oil licenses. While we wait for a response from ECHR, we are also waiting for a new licensing round from the government, that they have promised to announce before summer. Even more oil licenses, and most of them in the Arctic Barents Sea. Even though we lost this case in the Supreme Court, we have achieved a lot by bringing this to court, in our opinion. The public debate about oil and climate has drastically changed, and this is really important since the parliament election is coming up 13th of september. Our court case has also brought forward some secrecy from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, where they haven't told the parliament about calculations that show there is a significant chance that opening new areas for oil drilling in the Arctic would never be profitable. This has led to demands from many politicians to separate the ministry from the state owned oil company more. We also got some small victories in court, like the fact that Norway has to count in the emissions from use of the oil we export when considering if emissions are in violation of our environment paragraph in our constitution. Now, after the new report from IEA showed that there is no room for new oil licenses in their 1,5 degrees scenario, there is even more debate and support for the necessary transition. But the government and oil lobby responds by saying that this "is just one of many scenarios", and that Norway has the cleanest oil, and we should be the last country to stop drilling. They ignore the responsibility of being one of the oil producing countries that are least dependent on oil revenues and best equipped to make the transition. Therefore we need all the help we can get to build support for the IEA report, in order to put pressure on Norway to accept the conclusion about no need for new oil licenses. We are very inspired to see other climate lawsuits win using the human rights, and we are also very excited for the portugees application that is also filed to the ECHR, that accuses Norway and 32 other countries for causing wildfires in Portugal by not reducing emissions fast enough.

Hausamman Nightcloud
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150 w
I agree with all comments and I am proud too!
Natur og Ungdom
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150 w
We are really proud to finally have announced this application til the European Court of Human Rights, together with the six applicants and Greenpeace. Our organization has worked against norwegian oil drilling for decades, and a just transition away from this industry is now urgent. Both for the global climate impact, for the vulnerable arctic ecosystems and to reduce the economic risk the government takes when gambling against the climate targets with new oil licenses. While we wait for a response from ECHR, we are also waiting for a new licensing round from the government, that they have promised to announce before summer. Even more oil licenses, and most of them in the Arctic Barents Sea. Even though we lost this case in the Supreme Court, we have achieved a lot by bringing this to court, in our opinion. The public debate about oil and climate has drastically changed, and this is really important since the parliament election is coming up 13th of september. Our court case has also brought forward some secrecy from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, where they haven't told the parliament about calculations that show there is a significant chance that opening new areas for oil drilling in the Arctic would never be profitable. This has led to demands from many politicians to separate the ministry from the state owned oil company more. We also got some small victories in court, like the fact that Norway has to count in the emissions from use of the oil we export when considering if emissions are in violation of our environment paragraph in our constitution. Now, after the new report from IEA showed that there is no room for new oil licenses in their 1,5 degrees scenario, there is even more debate and support for the necessary transition. But the government and oil lobby responds by saying that this "is just one of many scenarios", and that Norway has the cleanest oil, and we should be the last country to stop drilling. They ignore the responsibility of being one of the oil producing countries that are least dependent on oil revenues and best equipped to make the transition. Therefore we need all the help we can get to build support for the IEA report, in order to put pressure on Norway to accept the conclusion about no need for new oil licenses. We are very inspired to see other climate lawsuits win using the human rights, and we are also very excited for the portugees application that is also filed to the ECHR, that accuses Norway and 32 other countries for causing wildfires in Portugal by not reducing emissions fast enough.
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We Don't Have Time
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150 w
Dear Sarah Chabane Thank you for getting your climate love to level 2! We have reached out to Natur og Ungdom and requested a response. I will keep you updated on any progress! /Adam We Don't Have Time
Peter Kamau
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150 w
It only calls for a go getter to head the go and these folks have done it boldly hoping their will bear fruits.

Natur og Ungdom

Climate activists target Norway's arctic oil extraction at the European Court of Human Rights

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