Search Share Prices
Norwegian court dismisses Greenpeace's Arctic oil lawsuit against state
An Oslo court has granted Norway permission to undertake further oil exploration in the Arctic on Thursday, dismissing a lawsuit filed by Greenpeace and the Nature and Youth Group that claimed they were in violation of the people's right to a healthy environment.
The case argued that licenses issued to Statoil, Chevron and others in 2015 were unconstitutional.
"The environmental organizations' argument that the plan violates the Constitution's Article 112 has not succeeded," the district court ruled.
"The state, represented by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, is exonerated," the court said before it ordered the groups to cover the state's legal costs of NOK 580,000.
The government's lawyers claimed that case was nothing more than a publicity stunt that, if successful, would result in the loss of hundreds of jobs.
As any production from future Arctic fields was not likely to commence for another 10 to 15 years, during which time a new management plan for the northern region would likely be in place, the court ruled that the government had completed due diligence and taken into proper account how the ice in the region was retreating as a result of global warming.
Tommy Hansen, a spokesman for the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, a lobby group for the Norwegian oil industry, welcomed the decision, saying "We've previously said that this is a matter of politics, and politics should be made in parliament, not in the court."