The key facts

  • Norway's Supreme Court confirmed the revocation of permits for the Tyrving, Breidablikk and Yggdrasil fields
  • The environmental impact assessment must take into account emissions from burning the extracted oil and gas, including outside Norway
  • The state will pay the environmental organisations more than 5 million Norwegian kroner in court costs

Court upholds revocation of permits

Norway's Supreme Court upheld the decision declaring invalid the government permits for the development and operation of three oil and gas fields in the North Sea — Tyrving, Breidablikk and Yggdrasil. The reason was an insufficient assessment of the projects' environmental impact. According to broadcaster NRK, the case was heard on a lawsuit filed by the environmental organisations Greenpeace and Nature and Youth.

What the court decided

The plaintiffs argued that the authorities had not properly assessed the climate consequences of the emissions that would arise from the eventual burning of the oil and gas extracted at the fields. The court agreed with this position and ruled that the environmental impact assessment must take into account emissions from burning the extracted fossil fuels, including those occurring outside Norway, and their contribution to global warming. In addition, the court, by a majority of six votes to five, ordered that cumulative emissions from other existing and already approved oil projects on the Norwegian continental shelf be taken into account.

Practical consequences

The decision obliges the Norwegian authorities to re-evaluate the issued permits, but production at the fields is not automatically suspended. The state must also pay Greenpeace and Nature and Youth court costs amounting to more than 5 million Norwegian kroner — approximately 500 thousand dollars.