Dispute over oil production in the Arctic: Activists fail in climate lawsuit against Norway

Several young Norwegians are suing their government, alleging that it is failing to protect its citizens "from the serious negative impacts of climate change." But they fail: Oslo does not violate its climate protection commitments, the judges ruled. However, they see room for improvement.

A group of young climate activists lost a lawsuit against Norway before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. The court ruled that the government in Oslo had not violated its own climate protection commitments by granting oil and gas exploration licenses in the Arctic. Norway had upheld Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to respect for private and family life.

Six young Norwegians, born between 1995 and 2001, and the environmental organizations Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth had filed the lawsuit. They had argued, citing Article 8, that the state had failed to conduct an environmental impact assessment of the potential impacts on its climate protection commitments before granting the extraction licenses. It had thus failed to protect citizens "from the serious adverse effects of climate change on their lives, health, well-being, and quality of life." The Court rejected this argument.

However, the Court acknowledged to the plaintiffs that the impact assessment "was not truly comprehensive within the framework of the procedures that led to the 2016 decision." Sigrid Hoddevik Losnegard, vice-chair of the youth organization of Friends of the Earth, welcomed this: "We are very pleased that the ECHR has taken such a clear stance on this issue. This will have significant implications for the way oil production is managed in Norway." Norway is the largest oil and natural gas producer in Western Europe. Energy Minister Terje Aasland welcomed the "clear" ruling.

In spring 2024, the ECHR condemned a country for the first time for failing to protect the climate: The court ruled in favor of a group of elderly Swiss women who had accused their government of violating their human rights through a lack of climate protection.

The elderly women invoked Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court recognized that heat waves caused by climate change adversely affect the lives of the plaintiffs. The court called on the government in Bern to review its climate policy. The ruling was hailed as groundbreaking at the time.

In recent years, climate lawsuits against companies and states have increased. In Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the German Climate Protection Act partially unconstitutional in 2021, arguing that it infringes on the civil liberties of future generations.