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OIL

NGOs take Norway to European Court over Arctic oil exploration

Two NGOs and six young climate activists have decided to take Norway to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to demand the cancellation of oil permits in the Arctic, Greenpeace announced on Tuesday.

NGOs take Norway to European Court over Arctic oil exploration
Northern Norway. Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash.

It’s the latest turn in a legal tussle between environmental organisations Greenpeace and Young Friends of the Earth Norway on one side and the Norwegian state on the other.

The organisations are demanding the government cancel 10 oil exploration licenses in the Barents Sea awarded in 2016, arguing it was unconstitutional.

Referring to the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to less than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the organisations claim that the oil licenses violated article 112 of Norway’s constitution, guaranteeing everyone the right to a healthy environment.”

The six activists, alongside Greenpeace Nordic and Young Friends of the Earth Norway, hope that the European Court of Human Rights will hear their case and find that Norway’s oil expansion is in breach of human rights,” Greenpeace said in a statement.

In December, Norway’s Supreme Court rejected the claim brought by the organisations, their third successive legal defeat.

READ MORE: Norway sees oil in its future despite IEA’s warnings 

While most of the judges on the court agreed that article 112 could be invoked if the state failed to meet its climate and environmental obligations– they did not think it was applicable in this case.

The court also held that the granting of oil permits was not contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights, in part because they did not represent “a real and immediate risk” to life and physical integrity.

“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,” Greenpeace said.

On Friday, the Norwegian government unveiled a white paper on the country’s energy future, which still includes oil exploration despite a warning from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The IEA recently warned that all future fossil fuel projects must be scrapped if the world is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The Norwegian case is an example of a global trend in which climate activists are increasingly turning to courts to pursue their agenda.

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COPENHAGEN

Copenhagen to get warning system for air pollution

Residents in Copenhagen system will be warned when air pollution hits high levels in the capital, the city government has decided.

Copenhagen to get warning system for air pollution

The quality of Copenhagen’s air is slowly improving, but city politicians have nevertheless decided to implement a warning system that will tell the capital’s residents when the air quality takes a dip, broadcaster DR reports.

The idea behind the decision, taken by the Copenhagen Municipality city council, is to warn people with respiratory conditions and in other risk groups when the air is so polluted that it presents a risk to their health.

“Every tenth death in Copenhagen can be linked to air pollution. We have to protect Copenhageners against this,” head of the city government’s health committee, Sisse Marie Welling of the Socialist People’s Party (SF), told DR.

READ ALSO: Pollution linked to ‘one in eight’ deaths in EU countries

The details of how the warning system will work are yet to be finalised, but will likely to be based on telephones.

Asthmatic Copenhagen resident Katrine Østerby welcomed the move but also told DR that she hoped politicians would do more about the causes of air pollution.

“I am a young student who is in good physical condition and does a lot of the right things, so I feel there should also be space for me in Copenhagen – and that it’s air pollution that we should get under control, not me that should move out of the way,” she said.

The system will be implemented by late 2024, according to the plan.

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