Youth and Environmentalists argue before European supranational Court in climate lawsuit against Norway

Greenpeace in Norway and Natur og Ungdom’s (Young Friends of the Earth Norway) climate lawsuit against the state of Norway will be heard today in the supranational European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court regarding the legality of three oil and gas fields in the North Sea.

“It is the Norwegian State who requested that the EFTA Court review this case. We see this merely as a tactic from the State to make this court case longer, more complex and more expensive. However, we have a strong case and we know that Norway’s arguments won’t stand the test of time,” said Gytis Blaževičius, head of Natur og Ungdom.

In January 2024, in a historic win for Greenpeace Norway and Natur og Ungdom, the Oslo District Court found the approvals of three oil and gas fields in the North Sea invalid — Norwegian authorities failed to carry out appropriate impact assessments of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) as they did not take emissions from combustion into account. These GHG emissions, known as Scope III, account for approximately 95% of the climate harmful effects of the project.[1]

The Norwegian government appealed and requested that a key question on the case, namely regarding Scope III emissions, be sent to the EFTA Court in Luxembourg for an advisory opinion on how the European Union Environmental Impact Assessment Directive should be interpreted.[2] This appeal was launched after the British Supreme Court, in a very similar case, found an oil development in the UK illegal because the authorities had not carried out environmental impact assessments from burning the oil and gas. 

Judgments by the British Supreme Court judges and the Norwegian court both state that under the EU Project Directive, the combustion emissions of a project are in fact considered “effects” of said project, and thus, there is a duty to carry out an impact assessment of these emissions before approving new oil and gas fields.[3] 

“The interpretation of the Directive has never been clearer. The UK’s highest court and Oslo District Court agree with our interpretation. We are therefore optimistic that the EFTA Court will read the Directive in the same way, and conclude that Norway acted unlawfully when approving oil and gas fields without the necessary impact assessments of combustion emissions,” said Frode Pleym, Head of Greenpeace in Norway.

After the hearing, the EFTA Court will provide guidance on how the EU Project Directive should be interpreted. When the case returns to the Norwegian Court of Appeals next year, this advisory opinion will carry significant weight. 

ENDS

Notes

Background to the case 

Live stream of the proceedings

[1] The 95% figure is calculated by Greenpeace Nordic and submitted as a claim to the European Court of Human Rights in Additional Observation of 16 August 2024, in app. no. 34068/21, Greenpeace Nordic and others v. Norway (p. 29)

[2] Request for an Advisory Opinion from the EFTA Court by Borgarting Court of Appeal 

[3] Before planning permission can be granted for a development project which is likely to have significant effects on the environment, legislation in the United Kingdom (and many other countries) requires an environmental impact assessment (“EIA”) to be carried out.