Norway's Supreme Court invalidates approvals for 3 North Sea oil, gas fields

Norway's Supreme Court on Friday upheld a ruling invalidating government approvals for three North Sea oil and gas fields over inadequate environmental impact assessments, broadcaster NRK reported. The case was brought by environmental groups Greenpeace and Nature and Youth, which challenged approvals for the development and operation of the Tyrving, Breidablikk and Yggdrasil fields. The groups argued that authorities had failed to adequately assess the climate impact of emissions generated by the eventual combustion of oil and gas extracted from the fields.

The Supreme Court ruled that environmental impact assessments must account for emissions from burning extracted fossil fuels, including those released outside Norway, and evaluate their contribution to global warming. It also ruled that assessments must consider cumulative emissions from other existing and approved petroleum projects on the Norwegian continental shelf. The requirement was adopted by a six-to-five majority. The ruling requires the Norwegian government to reassess the approvals but does not automatically suspend production at the fields.

The state was also ordered to pay Greenpeace and Nature and Youth more than 5 million Norwegian kroner (approximately $500,000) in legal costs.