The world over, oil companies are looking to ever more extreme and dangerous locations to drill, in a reckless bid to exploit the oil we have to keep in the ground.
But from the Arctic, to the Canadian Tar Sands and now in the Great Australian Bight – where a huge people-powered win saw oil giant BP ditch its dangerous ultra-deepwater drilling – people have begun to break the stranglehold of Big Oil.
Now in the fragile, melting Arctic, Norwegian state-owned oil company StatOil wants to drill further north than ever before. We’ve got to stop them. That’s why we filed an unprecedented people-powered legal challenge against Arctic oil that could do just that.
This court case is the first step in the fight to build a world where no government dares to risk the environment of future generations for short-sighted profit.
What happens in the Arctic, doesn’t stay in the Arctic. This issue affects all of us: our nieces and nephews, our children and future generations who will inherit this earth.
This lawsuit could have a far-reaching impact in the global struggle to stop the reckless expansion of the oil industry.
It’s time we hold governments accountable for their climate promises; we must protect the pristine Arctic – it’s critical for the preservation of our planet for future generations.
Greenpeace’s legal case against the Norwegian government, which granted new oil drilling licenses in the Arctic ocean, finally has a court date. On November 13th we are going to court!
We all have every right to a full and healthy life – free from the catastrophic effects of climate change we are already seeing around the world. THIS – tackling climate change – should be the main priority of governments. It seems however, that they need a little push in guaranteeing these rights. Civil society and youth around the world are doing just that, through the courts. We can be the generation that ends oil.
Norway was among the first countries in the world to sign the Paris Agreement and promise to help limit global warming. But, right after they signed on, they started handing out vast areas of Norwegian seas to oil companies. New oil drilling. In the Arctic! That is madness. The Arctic is vital in regulating the earth’s temperature!
Let’s show the Court that the government must take action, not only to keep the Paris climate agreement on track, but also to uphold the Norwegian Constitution:
You see, the licenses violate Norwegians’ constitutional right to a healthy environment. This is what is written in Article 112 of the Constitution:
“Every person has the right to an environment that is conducive to health and to a natural environment whose productivity and diversity are maintained. Natural resources shall be managed on the basis of comprehensive long-term considerations which will safeguard this right for future generations as well… The authorities of the state shall take measures for the implementation of these principles”.
It is clear that drilling for more fossil fuels in the Arctic is against the rights enshrined in Article 112. We are demanding that the government upholds these constitutional guarantees.
This is not just about Norway. This is about climate justice for us, our nieces and nephews, all children – every person and future generations.
What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay there. Around the world, communities are already battling the effects of climate change. People have been made homeless by storms, killed by floods and suffered starvation from terrible droughts. Unless we act now, climate change will cause more dangerous and more frequent extreme weather events and sea levels will rise. Lives, livelihoods, homes, and our environment are all at risk.
But this case is now part of a wave of people stepping up for climate all over the world, from Norway to the Philippines. If millions of us come together and take this battle to court, we build a movement to take back our future. So far, more than 150 000 people have joined this global movement. If you haven’t already, add your name and be part of the generation that ends oil.
It is time to end the oil age. If you’re a government, and you’re accelerating climate change, there is a good chance we’ll see you in court. Stay tuned.
By Michelle Jonker-Argueta, an attorney with Greenpeace.
Oil companies, like most extractive enterprises, are driven by profit. They realise that the resource on which they depend for their profits is, if the people have their way, about to become valueless. They are fighting to extract the last bit of profit before that happens.