{"id":9238,"date":"2021-06-14T18:51:03","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T17:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/?page_id=9238"},"modified":"2025-10-27T13:29:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T12:29:28","slug":"people-vs-arctic-oil","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/klimaendringer\/klimasoksmal\/people-vs-arctic-oil\/","title":{"rendered":"People vs. Arctic Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-planet4-blocks-carousel-header\"><div data-hydrate=\"planet4-blocks\/carousel-header\" data-attributes=\"{&quot;carousel_autoplay&quot;:false,&quot;slides&quot;:[{&quot;image&quot;:49840,&quot;focal_points&quot;:{&quot;x&quot;:&quot;0.50&quot;,&quot;y&quot;:&quot;0.49&quot;},&quot;header&quot;:&quot;People vs. Arctic Oil&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Six young climate activists, along with two environmental organisations from Norway, are filing a historic application to bring the issue of Arctic oil drilling to the European Court of Human Rights.&quot;,&quot;link_text&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_url&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_url_new_tab&quot;:false,&quot;image_url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;image_srcset&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-150x150.jpg 150w,https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-300x135.jpg 300w,https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-1024x461.jpg 1024w,https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-510x229.jpg 510w,https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-2048x922.jpg 2048w,https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-scaled.jpg 2560w&quot;}],&quot;currentImageIndex&quot;:0}\"><section class=\"block block-header alignfull carousel-header \"><div class=\"carousel-wrapper-header\"><ul class=\"carousel-inner\" role=\"listbox\"><li class=\"carousel-item active\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"tabpanel\" aria-label=\"Text goes here!\"><div class=\"carousel-item-mask\"><div class=\"background-holder\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-scaled.jpg\" style=\"object-position:50% 49%\" srcSet=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-150x150.jpg 150w,https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-300x135.jpg 300w,https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-1024x461.jpg 1024w,https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-510x229.jpg 510w,https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-2048x922.jpg 2048w,https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2022\/01\/18ae9359-web-photo-v2-scaled.jpg 2560w\"\/><\/div><div class=\"carousel-caption\"><div class=\"caption-overlay\"><\/div><div class=\"container main-header\"><div class=\"carousel-captions-wrapper\"><h2>People vs. Arctic Oil<\/h2><p>Six young climate activists, along with two environmental organisations from Norway, are filing a historic application to bring the issue of Arctic oil drilling to the European Court of Human Rights.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n<p><em>For the first time, the <em>European Court of Human Rights <\/em> is being asked to decide whether a government\u2019s decision to expand its oil and gas production violates human rights: the rights to life, to health, and to a safe environment. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/79276\/greenpeace-vs-norway-two-climate-decisions-that-could-change-europe\/\">This decision will be handed down on 28 October.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/nyheter\/klimaendringer\/klimasoksmalet-dom-fra-emd-kommer-28-oktober\/\">Read about the People vs. Arctic Oil decision in Norwegian here.<\/a><\/em><br><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/nyheter\/klimaendringer\/klimasoksmalet-dom-fra-emd-kommer-28-oktober\/\"><br><\/a><\/em>We <span>argue that by allowing new oil drilling in the midst of a climate crisis, Norway is in breach of fundamental human rights.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p>After three rounds in Norway\u2019s legal system, domestic courts found that the Norwegian state did not violate Article 112 of the Norwegian Constitution, which states that every person has a right to a healthy environment and that the state must implement measures to secure this right. The young activists and the environmental organisations argue that this judgment was flawed, as it discounted the significance of their environmental constitutional rights and did not take into account an accurate assessment of the consequences of climate change for the coming generations. They now hope that the European Court will find that Norway\u2019s oil expansion is in breach of human rights.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-norway-stateless\/2021\/06\/0392a3c0-people-vs.-arctic-oil-\u2013-application-to-the-ecthr-\u2013-for-distribution_skjult-innhold.pdf\">Read the application here.<\/a><\/p>\n<div data-render=\"planet4-blocks\/columns\" data-attributes=\"{&quot;attributes&quot;:{&quot;columns_block_style&quot;:&quot;image&quot;,&quot;columns_title&quot;:&quot;Learn more&quot;,&quot;columns_description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;columns&quot;:[{&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Latest news&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;attachment&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/7c0c5999-gp1suj9w_web_size-503x340.jpg&quot;,&quot;cta_link&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/norway\\\/tag\\\/people-vs-oil\\\/&quot;,&quot;cta_text&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_new_tab&quot;:false,&quot;attachment_srcset&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/7c0c5999-gp1suj9w_web_size-503x340.jpg 503w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/7c0c5999-gp1suj9w_web_size-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/7c0c5999-gp1suj9w_web_size-768x519.jpg 768w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/7c0c5999-gp1suj9w_web_size.jpg 800w&quot;},{&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Meet the applicants&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;attachment&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/fcd238d0-gp1svb24_web_size-427x340.jpg&quot;,&quot;cta_link&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/norway\\\/nyheter\\\/9245\\\/meet-the-applicants\\\/&quot;,&quot;cta_text&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_new_tab&quot;:false,&quot;attachment_srcset&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/fcd238d0-gp1svb24_web_size-427x340.jpg 427w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/fcd238d0-gp1svb24_web_size-300x239.jpg 300w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/fcd238d0-gp1svb24_web_size.jpg 754w&quot;},{&quot;title&quot;:&quot;A summary of the case&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;attachment&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/5449517e-gp1suja2_web_size-510x340.jpg&quot;,&quot;cta_link&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/norway\\\/nyheter\\\/9306\\\/people-vs-arctic-oil-summary-of-the-case\\\/&quot;,&quot;cta_text&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_new_tab&quot;:false,&quot;attachment_srcset&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/5449517e-gp1suja2_web_size-510x340.jpg 510w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/5449517e-gp1suja2_web_size-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/5449517e-gp1suja2_web_size-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/5449517e-gp1suja2_web_size.jpg 800w&quot;},{&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Get in contact&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;attachment&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/6f25f98d-gp0stu5k5_medium_res.jpg&quot;,&quot;cta_link&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/norway\\\/press\\\/&quot;,&quot;cta_text&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_new_tab&quot;:false,&quot;attachment_srcset&quot;:false}],&quot;className&quot;:&quot;is-style-image&quot;}}\"><\/div><div data-render=\"planet4-blocks\/columns\" data-attributes=\"{&quot;attributes&quot;:{&quot;columns_block_style&quot;:&quot;image&quot;,&quot;columns_title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;columns_description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;columns&quot;:[{&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Documents&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;attachment&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/3ec8cd94-gp1sujgb-510x340.jpg&quot;,&quot;cta_link&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/norway\\\/ecthr-documents\\\/&quot;,&quot;cta_text&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_new_tab&quot;:false,&quot;attachment_srcset&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/3ec8cd94-gp1sujgb-510x340.jpg 510w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/3ec8cd94-gp1sujgb-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/3ec8cd94-gp1sujgb-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/3ec8cd94-gp1sujgb-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\\\/\\\/www.greenpeace.org\\\/static\\\/planet4-norway-stateless\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/3ec8cd94-gp1sujgb.jpg 1200w&quot;},{&quot;title&quot;:&quot; &quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;attachment&quot;:0,&quot;cta_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cta_text&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_new_tab&quot;:false},{&quot;title&quot;:&quot; &quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;attachment&quot;:0,&quot;cta_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cta_text&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_new_tab&quot;:false},{&quot;title&quot;:&quot; &quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;attachment&quot;:0,&quot;cta_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cta_text&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_new_tab&quot;:false}],&quot;className&quot;:&quot;is-style-image&quot;}}\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"block accordion-block wp-block-planet4-blocks-accordion\"><header><h2 class=\"page-section-header\">But what about\u2026? 5 frequently asked questions and answers<\/h2><\/header><p class=\"page-section-description\">This is an exciting and completely new case, and that comes with a lot of questions. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve tried to anticipate some of them here. You will find many answers to other questions elsewhere on this page, and if you still can\u2019t find them there then don\u2019t hesitate to reach out to us!<\/p><div class=\"accordion-content\"><div class=\"accordion-headline\" name=\"What is the ECtHR?\">What is the ECtHR?<\/div><div class=\"panel panel-hidden\"><p class=\"accordion-text\">The ECtHR is an international court, located in Strasbourg, France. The court is a part of the Council of Europe, where Norway is one of the 47 members.<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"accordion-content\"><div class=\"accordion-headline\" name=\"Why are Greenpeace, Young Friends of the Earth and the individual applicants taking the People vs. Arctic Oil case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)?\">Why are Greenpeace, Young Friends of the Earth and the individual applicants taking the People vs. Arctic Oil case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)?<\/div><div class=\"panel panel-hidden\"><p class=\"accordion-text\">The organizations and the individual applicants claim that Norwegian oil policy is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR states that all humans have a right to life and private life, and under this provision, the ECtHR has previously interpreted this to include a right to a livelihood and environment that should not be degraded. The organizations and individual applicants are of the opinion that this also includes a right to a healthy environment free from damages due to climate change. These are issues that the court has previously shown interest in, e.g. by forwarding two recent cases regarding climate change previously this year, which might be accepted to the court.<br><br>As the People vs. Arctic Oil court case has already exhausted national remedies by taking the case through the Norwegian courts of law, the case is in a unique position to file an application to the ECtHR. A majority of the applications which are filed with the ECtHR are rejected, and having exhausted national remedies increases the chance of admission.<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"accordion-content\"><div class=\"accordion-headline\" name=\"How are human rights and the environment related?\">How are human rights and the environment related?<\/div><div class=\"panel panel-hidden\"><p class=\"accordion-text\">Articles 2 and 8 in the European Convention on Human Rights state that individuals have a right to life and to private life. Within these two articles, the ECtHR has previously interpreted a right to protection from environmental harm. Articles 2 and 8 were central in the Urgenda case, which was heard by the Dutch court system, where the Dutch Supreme Court found that Dutch climate targets were too low given the scientific consensus about potential harm from climate change.<br><br>The six young Norwegian activists also allege violation of Article 14 of the ECHR about discrimination based on age, the disproportionate burden the climate crisis imposes on youth, and discrimination based on membership of minority population for two of the applicants who are from the S\u00e1mi people.<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"accordion-content\"><div class=\"accordion-headline\" name=\"What if Norway does not comply with the judgment?\">What if Norway does not comply with the judgment?<\/div><div class=\"panel panel-hidden\"><p class=\"accordion-text\">The ECtHR has no formal sanctions against Norway if Norway does not comply with the judgment voluntarily. On the other hand, given a judgment, it is likely that the question will be an issue which might be raised again by other nations, and will affect Norway\u2019s relation to the EU and European countries.<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"accordion-content\"><div class=\"accordion-headline\" name=\"Have other environmental cases been heard by the ECtHR?\">Have other environmental cases been heard by the ECtHR?<\/div><div class=\"panel panel-hidden\"><p class=\"accordion-text\">There have previously been several cases heard by the ECtHR, e.g. by individuals seeking protection from environmental damage from factory pollution. Two climate related applications have recently been communicated by the ECtHR: Portuguese youth who are taking 33 countries to court for having been complicit in climate change which is harming their homes, and Swiss grandparents who are taking Switzerland to court for not protecting them against heat waves following from increased temperatures<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If you would prefer to follow the case in Norwegian, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/klimaklagen-norsk\/\">please click here<\/a>.<\/h3>\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Six young climate activists have filed a historic application bringing the issue of Arctic oil drilling to the European Court of Human Rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":53250,"parent":52259,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_hide_page_title_checkbox":"on","p4_title":"","p4_subtitle":"","p4_description":"","background_image_id":"","background_image":"","p4_button_title":"","p4_button_link":"","p4_button_link_checkbox":"","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":[58],"tags":[51],"class_list":["post-9238","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energi","tag-people-vs-oil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9238"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66089,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9238\/revisions\/66089"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/norway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}