OSLO (Reuters) -The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday ruled in favour of the Norwegian government in a lawsuit brought by young climate activists who claimed the country’s policy of Arctic oil exploration had put their future at risk.
Norway is western Europe’s largest oil and gas producer, with daily output of four million barrels of oil equivalent, and says it plans to pump hydrocarbons for decades to come while also supporting global efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The lawsuit launched in 2022 by six individuals in their 20s along with Greenpeace and Young Friends of the Earth, was part of a growing branch of law where plaintiffs go to court to make the case for curbing emissions that cause climate change.
The case concerns Norway’s decision to award 10 exploration licenses in the Arctic Barents Sea in 2016, which the applicants claimed had endangered the environment and deprived young people of their right to life.
“The European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been no violation,” the Strasbourg-based court said in a statement.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)
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