{"id":11646,"date":"2017-11-29T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-29T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.p4.greenpeace.org\/international\/uncategorised\/11646\/the-wave-is-rolling\/"},"modified":"2020-11-30T19:36:45","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T18:36:45","slug":"the-wave-is-rolling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/11646\/the-wave-is-rolling\/","title":{"rendered":"The wave is rolling!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>As the People vs. Arctic Oil Trial comes to an end, the battle against climate change continues in courtrooms around the world<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After seven days of court hearings, the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/peoplevsarcticoil.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">People vs. Arctic oil<\/a> trial has come to an end. We expect a judgment during the first weeks of January 2018.<\/p>\n<p>This is our chance to take a look at what happened inside and outside the courtroom and at the growing movement of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to defend and restore our planet.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What happened inside the courtroom<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Greenpeace and Nature and Youth argued that Article 112 of the Norwegian Constitution grants people and future generations <strong>the right to a healthy environment<\/strong>, which can be enforceable in the courts if the government\u2019s actions violate that right. By opening up new areas for drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic, the Norwegian government is in violation of this article.&nbsp; This meant we could invoke the highest law in the land for this case &#8211; the Constitution.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12411\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12411\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12411\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/6a809653-gp0stracu.jpg\" alt=\"People vs Arctic Oil Court Case in Oslo - Day 1 \u00a9 Edward Beskow \/ Greenpeace\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/6a809653-gp0stracu.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/6a809653-gp0stracu-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/6a809653-gp0stracu-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/6a809653-gp0stracu-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/6a809653-gp0stracu-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-12411\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Greenpeace Nordic and Nature and Youth take on the Norwegian government in court for opening up new areas in the Arctic to oil drilling.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>While the State attorney called opening up a new area for drilling \u201can ordinary decision\u201d it is anything but <span id=\"docs-internal-guid-cc6ed670-080b-9d56-530d-4b9a269470a5\">in these <strong>extraordinary times<\/strong><\/span>. We simply cannot afford to burn more oil if we want to keep the global average temperature rise to below 1.5C, as the world agreed in Paris.<\/p>\n<p>Developed nations like Norway committed to take the lead under the Paris Agreement. Their efforts in combatting climate change should reflect the highest possible ambitions to maintain the temperature targets. <span id=\"docs-internal-guid-cc6ed670-0800-47e2-3851-e3beff97451d\">But the Norwegian government is breaking their international commitment by opening up new areas for drilling in the Arctic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What happened outside the courtroom<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As the trial continued inside the court, something incredible was happening outside. The bank managing the largest wealth fund in the world,&nbsp;the Norwegian Central bank,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbim.no\/en\/transparency\/news-list\/2017\/norges-bank-recommends-the-removal-of-oil-stocks-from-the-benchmark-index-of-the-government-pension-fund-global-gpfg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recommended the Norwegian Government to divest from oil and gas<\/a>.&nbsp;They were essentially echoing what our expert witnesses&#8217; were saying: there is great economic risk in the uncertainty of the future of oil and gas.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12414\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12414\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12414\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/589b6335-gp0strac1.jpg\" alt=\"People vs Arctic Oil Protest in Berlin \u00a9 Gordon Welters \/ Greenpeace\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/589b6335-gp0strac1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/589b6335-gp0strac1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/589b6335-gp0strac1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/589b6335-gp0strac1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2017\/11\/589b6335-gp0strac1-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-12414\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Activists use a pixel stick to create a banner that reads &#8220;The People vs. Arctic Oil.&#8221; Greenpeace activists protest in front of the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin calling for climate and Arctic protection and marking the start of a historic trial in Norway.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span id=\"docs-internal-guid-cc6ed670-0801-2cdf-33c8-76e30245ef90\">As the court listened to our arguments about how drilling for oil in the Arctic is also a human rights&nbsp; issue, affecting the lives of many outside of Norway, a UN Committee called upon Norway to revise its policy on Arctic oil drilling on the basis that that climate change <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ciel.org\/news\/un-committee-calls-norway-revise-energy-policy-noting-climate-impacts-arctic-oil-extraction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">disproportionately affects women<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<lite-youtube style=\"background-image: url('https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/XIrVLCNsV4Y\/hqdefault.jpg');\" videoid=\"XIrVLCNsV4Y\" params=\"rel=0\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<p><em><strong>The wave is rolling!<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nThe fight for climate justice continues not just in Norway but around the world. Ordinary people are paying attention and rising up:<\/p>\n<p><strong>21 youth plaintiffs<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ourchildrenstrust.org\/us\/federal-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sued<\/a> the US government for failure to act on climate change. On 11 December 2017, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court will hear oral arguments on the latest attempt from the Trump administration to stop the case. If the youth prevail, we expect the trial to start on 5 February 2018.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Commission on Human Rights in the Philippines<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/en\/press\/releases\/2017\/ExxonMobil-Shell-human-rights-investigation-climate-justice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">have called on<\/a>&nbsp;47 carbon producers to attend its investigation into their responsibility for climate-related human rights abuses. On 11 December 2017, the Commission <a href=\"http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/seasia\/ph\/press\/releases\/Worlds-largest-carbon-producers-ordered-to-respond-to-allegations-of-human-rights--abuses-from-climate-change\/The-Climate-Change-and-Human-Rights-Petition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">will hold<\/a> its preliminary conference to consider witnesses and evidence and set the next steps of the inquiry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>An appeals court in German<\/strong>y <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/nov\/14\/peruvian-farmer-sues-german-energy-giant-rwe-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">declared admissible<\/a> a Peruvian Farmer\u2019s claim against a German energy giant for contributing to climate change. On 30 November 2017, the Court will decide on next steps.<\/p>\n<p>The Dutch government has filed an appeal against the successful climate case brought by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.urgenda.nl\/en\/climate-case\/\">Urgenda<\/a>. The trial is set to begin on 28 May 2018.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Looking to the future<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.savethearctic.org\/en\/peoplevsarcticoil\/\">half a million people signed<\/a>&nbsp;their name to support this court case.<\/p>\n<p>The People vs. Arctic Oil trial may be over but the movement to hold governments and corporations accountable for climate change has begun &#8211; and it\u2019s only going to get stronger!<\/p>\n<p><em>Michelle Jonker-Argueta, Attorney Greenpeace International<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is our chance to take a look at what happened inside and outside the courtroom and at the growing movement of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to defend and restore our planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":12414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69,73],"tags":[87,89],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-11646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-social-and-economic-systems","tag-oil","tag-climate","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11646"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45756,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11646\/revisions\/45756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11646"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=11646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}