The case in summary: Climate organizations sued the state for having given illegal permits to three oil projects. The Oslo district court has now given them the right on all counts. This lawsuit was a continuation of the first climate lawsuit that went three rounds before the court from 2017 to 2020, where the organizations lost the case in the Supreme Court. In the Supreme Court judgment, it was nevertheless established that the state must assess the global consequences for the climate before approving new oil projects. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. State Secretary Astrid Bergmål in the Ministry of Energy emphasizes that the state disagrees with the judgment and that an appeal is now being considered. – We have received a comprehensive judgment and we disagree with it. We believe that the state has handled this case in the right way. Then we have to sit down and go through it thoroughly and see if it is natural to appeal it or not, she says in Dagsnytt 18. She will not readily agree that the judgment entails a complete shutdown of the oil fields. – As far as I have read the judgment, it is quite clear that Breidablikk, which is the only field where there is activity now, can continue with its activity within the permission that has been given. That is what we are dealing with now, says the state secretary. The lawsuit from the environmental organizations was a continuation of the first climate lawsuit that went three rounds before the court from 2017 to 2020. The organizations lost the case in the Supreme Court. The state was acquitted on all counts. But in the Supreme Court judgment it was established that the state must assess the global consequences for the climate before approving new oil projects. State Secretary Astrid Bergmål in the Ministry of Energy. Photo: Virke – It is not optional for the state The state had not done that for the three oil fields, according to the judgement. According to the judgment, the state has breached so-called investigation requirements when approving the oil and gas fields Tyrving, Breidablikk and Yggdrasil in the North Sea. – We are incredibly happy and relieved that the district court has delivered such a good and thorough judgment that gives us the right on all points. On the fact that these three oil fields have been illegally approved and we believe this must mean that production must be stopped immediately, says leader of Greenpeace, Frode Pleym, to news. He believes the state is now taking important rule of law principles lightly. – It is not optional for the state whether to implement measures. They will do it. – In any case, we expect the state to deal with the fact that we have won the claim for a temporary injunction. This means that production and development must be stopped immediately, he comments. Leader of Greenpeace, Frode Pleym, was a guest on Dagsnytt 18 on Thursday. Photo: ISMAIL BURAK AKKAN / news It was in June that Greenpeace and Nature and Youth joined forces and sued the oil ministry. They believe the state broke the law when they gave permits to extract three specific oil projects. The case went before Oslo District Court in December. Now the district court has given them the right on all counts. – This means that we live in a state governed by the rule of law. In this lawsuit, we have a Supreme Court judgment behind us. And it is quite right that the state loses when the Ministry of Energy did not follow the Supreme Court ruling. This judgment shows that the Ministry of Energy’s interpretation of the Supreme Court judgment was wrong and that the climate has won a crushing victory against the state in the district court, says Pleym. Nature and Youth leader Gytis Blazeviciu was clearly moved when the organizations held a press conference about the victory at 7 p.m. – It is a pleasure to stand here today with the Oslo district court’s verdict in my hands, he said. – Important climate victory The state is sentenced to pay damages and legal costs of NOK 3,260,000 to Nature and Youth and Greenpeace. – Do you expect the state to appeal this? – That must be the State’s assessment, replies the Greenpeace leader. Press spokesperson Gisle Ledel Johannessen at Equinor will not comment on the verdict for the time being. – We are not ourselves a party to the trial and have not yet had the chance to familiarize ourselves with the judgment. We will deal with the Norwegian authorities and the follow-up of the case further, he says in a comment to news. This is how much oil, gas and emissions the fields account for Breidablikk A clean oil field in the North Sea, which was put into production in October 2023. Recoverable reserves are estimated at just over 30 million standard cubic meters of oil. Gross emissions from the field are around 87 million tonnes of CO2. Expected production period is 20 years until around 2044. Tyrving A clean oil field in the North Sea. The field is still considered to be under development. Production is expected to start in the first quarter of 2025. Recoverable reserves are estimated at around 4.1 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent. Gross emissions are estimated at 11.3 million tonnes of CO2. Expected production time is 15 years until 2040. Yggdrasil Includes the Hugin, Munin and Fulla fields in the North Sea. These three fields consist of oil, gas and NGL. Production is expected to start in 2027. Recoverable reserves are estimated at around 140 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent. Total gross emissions are estimated at 365 million tonnes of CO2. Expected production time is 25 years until 2052. Source: The verdict in the climate lawsuit MDG: – Historic day of jubilation WWF now congratulates Greenpeace and Nature and Youth and Norway on what they refer to as a “hugely important” victory: – We would like to congratulate Greenpeace and Nature and Youth with a big and important climate victory today. The government and the majority in the Storting have year after year pursued an oil policy that is completely unrelated to the climate goals, says secretary general of the WWF World Wide Fund for Nature, Karoline Andaur. The political reactions have not been long in coming. Storting representative for SV, Lars Haltbrekken, says that SV will request a full explanation from the government about all development permits that have been granted in connection with the oil tax package. – The time when the government can continue its anti-climate oil activity is over. Now the government can no longer drive the horn and drive in oil policy, without taking the climate into account. Party leader in MDG, Arild Hermstad. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB The Green Party refers to the verdict as “a historic day of jubilation”. – Hurray for Greenpeace and Natur og Ungdom, who have proven that Norwegian oil policy is illegal, says party leader Arild Hermstad in MDG. Sofie Marhaug, energy and environmental policy spokesperson for Rødt, believes it is gratifying that the environmental organizations have won. – The verdict shows that the oil industry cannot get everything they point to. These fields will both lead to increased emissions and take a lot of electricity from land, which results in increased electricity prices. Ola Elvestuen in Venstre says this about the environmental organizations’ climate victory in the district court today: – When the district court so clearly establishes that the government has not followed the constitution before they gave permission to extract new discoveries, there must be consequences. – When the district court says that a valid permit has not been granted, it must be obvious that the activity at Breidablikk will now be stopped and that Yggdrasil and Tyrving will not be allowed to start, says Elvestuen. Representatives of the environmental organizations follow the government attorney’s proceedings in court. Photo: news
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– The climate has won a crushing victory – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
