‘The People vs Arctic Oil’: Activists target Norway at ECHR

Climate change campaigners launch a lawsuit against Oslo over plans for more oil drilling in the Arctic.

Norwegian climate activists have asked the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to rule against Norway’s plans for more oil drilling in the Arctic, the campaigners said on Tuesday, arguing that the country’s exploration deprives young people of their future. The lawsuit, by six individuals aged between 20 and 27 as well as Greenpeace and Young Friends of the Earth, is part of an emerging branch of law worldwide where plaintiffs go to court to make the case for curbing emissions that cause climate change. In the Netherlands, a court recently ordered Shell to cut its emissions in a lawsuit brought by citizens who argued that the Anglo-Dutch oil firm violated their human rights.