{"id":69336,"date":"2024-08-16T10:52:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T08:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=69336"},"modified":"2024-12-16T16:06:22","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T15:06:22","slug":"youth-and-environmentalists-climate-lawsuit-against-arctic-oil-progresses-in-the-european-court-of-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/press-release\/69336\/youth-and-environmentalists-climate-lawsuit-against-arctic-oil-progresses-in-the-european-court-of-human-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth and environmentalists\u2019 climate lawsuit against Arctic oil progresses in the European Court of Human Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


<\/strong>Strasbourg\/Oslo – Today six young climate activists, Natur og Ungdom (Nature and Youth) and Greenpeace Nordic are submitting additional arguments to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg, France. In 2021 the parties filed an application to the ECtHR, challenging Norway\u2019s fossil fuel expansion in the Arctic region. Europe’s highest court for human rights will assess whether Norway\u2019s fossil fuel\u00a0 expansion in the Arctic region violates human rights and a ruling could be issued later this year.<\/p>\n\n

The organisations initially sued the Norwegian State before domestic courts in 2016, arguing that its decision to expand oil and gas extraction in the Arctic region in the midst of the climate crisis is in breach of the Norwegian constitution. After the Norwegian Supreme Court majority ruled against them in 2020, six young climate activists, Nature and Youth and Greenpeace Nordic filed an application to the ECtHR<\/a>.[1]<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe ECtHR\u2019s review of our case highlights how climate change is affecting human rights. The human rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights mean that all people are entitled to a livable and healthy climate, and Norway’s Arctic fossil fuel expansion in the midst of a climate crisis is a complete violation of our rights. Norwegian fossil fuel  policy is fueling the climate breakdown leading to extreme weather events claiming lives, wrecking homes and destroying livelihoods, cultures and depriving the youth of their future. This is both an environmental and a human rights issue affecting us all – we will resist to ensure not only our survival but a sustainable future for generations to come.\u201d said Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace Norway.<\/p>\n\n

The applicants argue that their government\u2019s continued oil and gas expansion in the Arctic region exacerbates climate change, and violates their right to life and right to private and family life, as protected under Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It also violates Article 14 of the ECHR by discriminating against youth, who face a lifetime of extreme weather events and climate anxiety, and against the Indigenous S\u00e1mi people, whose historical traditions and cultural rights face extinction.[2][3]<\/p>\n\n

In April 2024, the ECtHR found for the first time ever that a State\u2019s climate inaction was in breach of human rights<\/a>. In the case of KlimaSeniorinnen<\/em>, Switzerland failed to adequately protect its residents from the dangerous consequences of climate change. The Norwegian applicants now ask the ECtHR to take the next logical step and hold that States are responsible for GHG emissions resulting from the combustion of their oil and gas exports, regardless of where the emissions occur. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cSince we filed the application with the ECtHR three years ago, the consequences of the fossil fuelled climate crisis have become more extreme. I am severely concerned about future generations’ access to a livable climate. We are optimistic and hope that the Court will rule that Norway’s oil expansion is violating the European Convention on Human Rights. The Convention states that all people have the right to life and for that, we believe, a healthy and stable climate is necessary,\u201d said Gytis Bla\u017eevi\u010dius, head of Nature and Youth.<\/p>\n\n

This lawsuit is a part of a wider movement of climate litigation, which globally, has made significant advances in recent years forcing states and corporations to take faster and more ambitious climate action in order to uphold human rights.<\/p>\n\n

The individual applicants behind the complaint are Ella Marie H\u00e6tta Isaksen, Ingrid Skjoldv\u00e6r, Gaute Eiterjord, Gina Gylver, Lasse Eriksen Bj\u00f8rn, and Mia Chamberlain.[4]<\/p>\n\n

ENDS<\/p>\n\n

Photos and video <\/strong>are available from the Greenpeace Media Library<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Notes:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

[1] The Supreme Court judgement in People vs Arctic oil<\/a><\/p>\n\n

[2][3] Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights<\/a> and European Convention on Human Rights – Article 14<\/a> <\/p>\n\n

[4] Meet the applicants <\/a><\/p>\n\n

Read more about the case at Greenpeace Norway<\/a> website (Norwegian and English)<\/p>\n\n

Contacts<\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n

Juni Haugan Holden, Communications officer of Greenpeace Norway: juni.haugan.holden@greenpeace.org<\/a>, +47 974 84 814<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace International Press Desk: pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org<\/a>, +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours). Follow @greenpeacepress<\/a> for our latest international press releases<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greenpeace Nordic and partners are challenging Norway’s plans for fossil fuel expansion in the Arctic. They are submitting arguments to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":69313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":"Youth and environmentalists\u2019 climate lawsuit against Arctic oil progresses in the European Court of Human Rights","p4_og_description":"Greenpeace Nordic and partners are challenging Norway's plans for fossil fuel expansion in the Arctic. They are submitting arguments to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.","p4_og_image":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/08\/066b2bfc-gp1svb27.jpg","p4_og_image_id":"69313","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"Climate Justice Liability","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[89,91],"p4-page-type":[98],"class_list":["post-69336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-and-economic-systems","tag-climate","tag-health","p4-page-type-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69336","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=69336"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69342,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69336\/revisions\/69342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69336"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=69336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}