'Climate activists take Norway to human rights court over Arctic oil plans', 16 June 2021

Six climate activists and two environmental NGOs have taken Norway to the European court of human rights (ECHR), arguing the Nordic country’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic are harming young people’s futures. The activists, Greenpeace and Young Friends of the Earth, want the court to rule that Oslo’s 2016 decision to grant 10 Barents Sea oil exploration licences violated article 112 of Norway’s constitution, which guarantees the right to a healthy environment... Norway, Europe’s second-largest oil and gas producer, produces about 4m barrels a day of oil equivalent. It said last week that while it was investing in hydrogen and offshore wind for its green energy transition, it would continue to extract oil and gas until at least 2050 and possibly beyond... Lasse Eriksen Bjørn ... from the indigenous Sami people of northern Norway, said the exploration licences were “a violation of articles 2 and 8 in the European convention on human rights, granting me the right to be protected against decisions endangering my life and wellbeing”...