Environmental groups on Tuesday will听补蝉办听a Norwegian听肠辞耻谤迟听to block the development of听迟丑谤别别听North Sea听辞颈濒听补苍诲听驳补蝉听fields, citing insufficient assessment of global climate impact from future petroleum use.
The lawsuit filed by Greenpeace聽补苍诲听its partner Nature聽补苍诲听Youth concerns the Equinor-operated聽Breidablikk聽补苍诲听Aker BP’s聽Yggdrasil聽补苍诲听Tyrving听蹿颈别濒诲蝉, which hold combined reserves of some 875 million barrels of听辞颈濒听equivalent.
The two NGOs in 2020聽聽against Arctic drilling at听狈辞谤飞补测‘s top听肠辞耻谤迟, which concluded that parliament聽补苍诲听the government had broad authority to award new听辞颈濒听acreage.
But the Supreme听颁辞耻谤迟听also noted that the government should consider the impact from total emissions when new听蹿颈别濒诲蝉聽are developed, including when听辞颈濒听补苍诲听驳补蝉听is eventually burned.
In the new lawsuit, the NGOs argue that the energy ministry failed to account for future emissions when approving the听迟丑谤别别听projects聽补苍诲听said the Oslo District听颁辞耻谤迟听should thus declare the approvals invalid聽补苍诲听issue preliminary injunctions.
The state rejected this view, however, arguing that the ministry’s decisions were valid as laws聽补苍诲听regulations did not require听狈辞谤飞补测聽to assess the consequences of emissions from petroleum exports abroad.
“The impact assessments are in line with current regulations,” Goeran Oesterman Thengs, an attorney representing the government, said in a submission to the听肠辞耻谤迟.
Breidablikk started production in October, four months earlier than previously expected, while Tyrving聽补苍诲听Yggdrasil are scheduled to come on stream in 2024聽补苍诲听2027, respectively.
“Norway‘s aggressive fossil policy spells disaster for the climate聽补苍诲听people around the world. We have no choice but to confront the Norwegian government in听肠辞耻谤迟听over the illegal听辞颈濒听fields,” Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace听狈辞谤飞补测, said. – Reuters
