Illustration of the Breidablikk field, where it is estimated that over 22 million barrels of oil will be produced in 2025. Source: Equinor
Greenpeace (banned in Russia) and Natur og Ungdom go to court and demand an immediate halt to oil production.
The organizations say the state is above the law and is behaving in a manner similar to what the Trump administration is doing in the U.S. Now they are asking the court to issue an urgent decision.
The core of the dispute is the three oil and gas fields Yggdrasil, Tyrving and Breidablikk.
The two environmental organizations went to court two years ago because they believed that the state did not follow the rules when it approved a plan for development and operation for the three fields.
The case itself has been heard in the Oslo District Court and will be heard in the Court of Appeal in September. At the same time, the organizations have demanded that the state stop production and development until the case is finally decided. This has led to several rounds in court. The Oslo District Court said that production had to be stopped temporarily.
The Court of Appeal said the opposite in October last year. Production could continue until the case was decided.
In April, the Supreme Court said that the Court of Appeal interpreted the law incorrectly. And sent the case back for a new hearing.
Has continued to produce oil and gas
Despite the Supreme Court’s decision in April, production has continued on the fields in the North Sea.
The state believes that the Supreme Court has only said that the Court of Appeal must hear the case again, and has not said anything about what it will reach.
Both Breidablikk and Tyrving are already in operation. Yggdrasil, which is the largest field, is under development.
Now the two organizations want an immediate stop. On Monday evening, they submitted a petition for a so-called temporary injunction to the Oslo District Court. In it, they ask that the court make an urgent decision to stop production and further development immediately.
We demand that they stop production on the fields we have sued. And that they do not develop these fields any further, because we have clarified that they are illegal. This is stated by the head of Natur og Ungdom, Sigrid Hoddevik Losnegård.
In May, the EFTA court ruled in favor of the environmental organizations in a key part of the case; that the state must assess the consequences for the climate before opening new oil fields.
The EFTA court has ruled in our favor, as has the ruling from the Oslo District Court and the ruling from the Supreme Court of Norway. And it should not be difficult for the state to do what is expected of all citizens in Norway, namely to follow the law, says Greenpeace leader Frode Pleym.
The two organizations use strong words when they mention that the state has not already stopped production.
“The state places itself and the oil industry above the law, and chooses to oppose, even though we have been recognized that we are right that these oil fields are illegal,” says Losnegård.
Pleym refers to what is currently happening in the USA when characterizing the state’s behavior.
“If it does not follow the law, which the state does not do as of now, then the state behaves in the same way as Trump does in the USA. He refuses to follow the laws and rules that our society and democracy are built on,” says Pleym.
Omar Saleem Rathore at the Government Attorney’s Office is handling the case for the Ministry of Energy. He responds to an inquiry from NRK as follows:
The environmental organizations are essentially repeating the same demands that the Court of Appeal will consider in the appeal case in the autumn. But on behalf of the Ministry of Energy, we will, as usual, handle new demands that require further legal processes. Until the case is legally decided, public authorities will continue to process applications for the fields in the usual way.
The ongoing legal process may look like legal intricacies.
The last claim is a petition for a temporary injunction that the state comply with another temporary injunction. But the reality is that it involves enormous amounts of oil and CO₂.
Production at Breidablikk and Tyrving is now in full swing. The Ministry of Energy will not publish how much oil is produced each day.
Greenpeace has made estimates, based on what Aker BP and Equinor have previously stated.
The estimate is that production creates over 35,000 tonnes of CO₂ every day.
“Scientists have documented that over 100,000 people could die prematurely because of these three fields. It is documented that an enormous amount of ice will melt, and we will have much less snow. So the consequences of the state continuing to break the law are real for people, nature and the climate,” says Frode Pleym.
Source: NRK (in Norwegian)