Environmental groups file lawsuit against Norway over Arctic oil

OSLO, (Reuters) - Two environmental groups filed a lawsuit yesterday accusing Norway of violating its pledges under a global agreement to combat climate change by letting energy firms explore for oil and gas in the Arctic Barents Sea.

Greenpeace Nordic and Nature & Youth said government plans would breach Norway’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the 2015 Paris Agreement and as well as a constitutional right to a healthy, safe environment.

“When we know that the oil and gas from existing oil and gas fields today account for more than we can use within a 1.5 degree climate budget, it is madness to open new fields,” Truls Gulowsen, head of Greenpeace Norway, told Reuters.

Last year, almost 200 nations agreed at a Paris summit to shift from fossil fuels and set a goal of limiting rises in average surface temperatures to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, ideally below 1.5C.

Norway aims to cut emissions by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 under the Paris Agreement, which has no penalties for non-compliance. Norway already has oil and gas production from offshore Arctic fields.

“We demand that the court declares the licences, which were handed out in the Barents Sea this summer, as invalid,” Gulowsen said.

In May, Norway awarded 10 new licences in the socalled 23rd licensing round for new exploration areas, which for the first time is granting access to an offshore border zone with Russia in the Arctic Barents Sea. ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Norway’s Statoil , Russia’s Lukoil as well as Sweden’s Lundin Petroleum were among the licence winners.

The ministry said the award of new licences would not be unconstitutional and that there was broad political backing for the measures.