Norway Appeals Court Ruling: Lifting Oil Field Development Injunctions

Norway's government has requested an appeals court to remove injunctions against developing three oil and gas fields. This move follows a prior ruling that invalidated the permits for environmental reasons. Greenpeace and Nature and Youth sued, arguing new fields will increase CO2 emissions. The government and operators contend these injunctions could lead to significant financial losses.

Norway's government is urging an appeals court to lift injunctions that halted the development of three oil and gas fields, a strategy aimed at overturning a previous court ruling based on environmental concerns.

In January, a lower court found that the energy ministry had not fully assessed the climate impact of the fields' oil and gas production, leading to a lawsuit filed by Greenpeace and its partner Nature and Youth. The court consequently imposed temporary injunctions on the Yggdrasil, Tyrving, and Breidablikk fields. However, the appeals court temporarily lifted these injunctions in March, allowing operators Aker BP and Equinor to proceed with work.

Göran Österman Thengs, representing the state, argued that the injunctions were not urgently needed and emphasized the negative societal and financial impacts of upholding them. Environmental organizations countered that the injunctions are necessary to prevent increased CO2 emissions from new oil fields, despite the government's commitments to the Paris climate accords and a net-zero emission target by 2050.

(With inputs from agencies.)