Written observations in application no. 34068/21 from European Network of National Human Rights Institutions 

After having exhausted all nation remedies available, with the final decision from the Norwegian Supreme Court issued on December 22, 2020, two NGOs (Greenpeace Nordic and Young Friends of the Earth (Nature and Youth)) and six individuals, filed an application before the European Court of Human Rights against the Norwegian government. For a summary of the case in Norway, see <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/greenpeace-nordic-assn-and-nature-youth-v-norway-ministry-of-petroleum-and-energy/">here</a>. 

They argue that the Norwegian government (the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy), in issuing new licenses for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic (Barents Sea) that will allow new fossil fuels to market from 2035 and beyond, violated plaintiff's rights under Articles 2 (right to life) and 8 (right to respect for private life and family life and home) of the European Convention on Human Rights. They also allege that the Norwegian government has failed to adopt necessary and appropriate measures to address the risk of the climate crisis. Respondent has further failed to declare, describe and assess total climate effects, including exported emissions, of the continued and expanded extraction, thereby also infringing the Applicants’ rights. In addition, they argue that the Norwegian courts failed to adequately assess their claims and thus failed to provide plaintiffs access to an effective domestic remedy under Article 13 of the ECtHR.

On December 16, 2021, the Court characterized the case as a potential “impact case” and communicated it to the Norwegian State. On January 10, 2022, the Court published a list of questions to the parties and has given the Norwegian Government until 13 April, 2022 to respond to the allegations of the environmental groups that new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic breaches fundamental freedoms.

On April 27, 2022, Norway asked the European Court of Human Rights to dismiss the case or to find that there has been no violation. In its reply, the Norwegian State argues that the complaint should be declared inadmissible, and claims that Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine justifies the search for more oil and gas today, thus increasing greenhouse gas emissions for another 30 years or more.

The following have been granted permission to intervene and submit their written comments: (i) the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights and the Environment, and on Toxics and Human rights, (ii) ClientEarth, (iii) the Norwegian Grandparents’ Climate Campaign, (iv) the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions, (v) the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ International) and (vi) ICJ Norway. 

The European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment on October 28, 2025, marking its first procedural climate-rights ruling.

The Court emphasized that the scope of the case was determined by the subject matter of the domestic proceedings. Accordingly, it was limited to the decision-making process in one specific round of petroleum exploration licensing. The broader challenge to Norway’s overall climate or petroleum policy—such as the alleged failure to phase out future oil production—was therefore excluded from the Court’s review.

The Court found it unnecessary to examine the applicants’ complaints under Article 2 (right to life) separately. When assessing environmental issues under Article 8 (right to private and family life), the Court generally applies principles that overlap with those governing Article 2. The applicants had, moreover, advanced the same arguments under both provisions.

Regarding admissibility under Article 8, the Court held that the six individual youth applicants had not demonstrated a sufficiently serious or individualized impact on their life, health, or well-being attributable to climate change. They had not shown any particular medical condition or other adverse effect that could not reasonably be mitigated through available adaptation measures in Norway. Relying on Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland, the Court reaffirmed that, absent such “high-intensity exposure” or a “pressing need for individual protection,” the threshold for victim status was not met. In contrast, the two applicant organizations—Greenpeace Nordic and Young Friends of the Earth Norway (Natur og Ungdom)—satisfied the criteria for locus standi set out in KlimaSeniorinnen. The Court therefore declared their Article 8 complaint admissible and found Article 8 applicable to their case.

On the merits, the Court articulated, for the first time, a procedural obligation under Article 8 in the climate context. States must conduct an adequate, timely, and comprehensive environmental impact assessment (EIA) in good faith and based on the best available science before authorizing any potentially dangerous activity that may adversely affect individuals’ right to effective protection by State authorities from serious climate-related harms to life, health, well-being, and quality of life. This procedural safeguard, the Court noted, is a key factor in determining whether a State remains within its margin of appreciation.

Specifically, for petroleum production projects, an EIA must at minimum:
	•	Quantify all anticipated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including combustion (scope 3) emissions both within the country and abroad;
	•	Assess whether the activity is compatible with national and international obligations to mitigate climate change; and
	•	Ensure informed public consultation at a stage when all options remain open and pollution can still be prevented at source.

Applying these principles to the case, the Court found no violation of Article 8. The challenged decision concerned exploration licenses (stage two of Norway’s three-stage petroleum licensing process). Under Norwegian law, extraction (stage three) cannot proceed without a comprehensive EIA. The Court was satisfied that the forthcoming production-stage review will include a full climate-impact assessment—covering combustion emissions and public consultation—before any extraction is authorized. Accordingly, it held that Norway had not breached Article 8 at this stage.

The Court declared inadmissible the applicants’ complaint under Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) in conjunction with Articles 2 and 8, due to non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. The claim had not been raised, even in substance, before domestic courts, depriving them of the opportunity to address or remedy the alleged violation.

The Court likewise rejected the complaint under Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) in conjunction with Article 8. For the individual applicants, the claim was incompatible ratione materiae, as they lacked victim status under Article 8 and no separate Article 2 claim was examined. For the organizational applicants, the Court found the complaint manifestly ill-founded, noting no indication that the domestic judicial review had been insufficient to meet the standards of Article 13.

Greenpeace Nordic and Others v. Norway

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Greenpeace Nordic and Others v. Norway - Other

Filed

International

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A subsidy is a direct or indirect payment to individuals or businesses, typically provided as a government cash payment or a specific tax reduction.

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

An integrated system of hazard monitoring, forecasting and prediction, that enables individuals, communities, governments, businesses and others to take timely action to reduce disaster risks in advance of hazardous events.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

Using laws and the legal system more broadly to protect vulnerable entities

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

Work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for all, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity.

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

Activities involving the catching, processing, and selling of fish for food, recreation, and industry.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Greenpeace Nordic and Others v. Norway - Other

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience