New Victory in the Climate Lawsuit

On Friday, the Borgarting Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in the proceedings brought by Greenpeace Nordic Association and Nature and Youth regarding the validity of the Ministry of Energy’s approvals of the Plans for Development and Operation (PUDs) for the three oil and gas fields Breidablikk, Tyrving, and Yggdrasil.

The Court of Appeal ruled that all three PUD permits are invalid. The Court based its ruling on the EU Project Directive and Article 112 of the Norwegian Constitution, which stipulate that emissions from the combustion of oil and gas must be assessed for their impact before permission is granted to start operating new oil fields (PUD). This must be done regardless of where the combustion takes place. These rules are intended, among other things, to ensure that the population has the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes in the environmental field. The decisions are invalid because this assessment was lacking.

The environmental organisations also won their claim for a temporary injunction against the three fields. The court orders the state to process the PUD applications in a lawful manner within six months.

The environmental organisations were also awarded full legal costs for all instances.

The decision is historic and represents a victory for key principles of the rule of law and future generations. It establishes that the state must comply with Supreme Court decisions and the rules that apply to ensure democratic participation in important decision-making processes.

The team from Simonsen Vogt Wiig consisted of partner Jenny Sandvig, associate Carl Victor Waldenstrøm, lawyer Ida Werenskiold and trainee Eivind Midtgård.

This is an unofficial AI-generated translation. In case of discrepancies, the original Norwegian version prevails.