Norway’s top court has begun hearing arguments on the legality of awarding offshore oil licenses in the Arctic, in a landmark case that could stop the industry’s expansion. The lawsuit, led by environmental groups Greenpeace Norway and Nature and Youth, is part of an emerging branch of law worldwide where plaintiffs seek to use a nation’s founding principles to make the case for curbing emissions. The lawsuit claims that the Constitution says that everyone has a right to healthy environment, and that cannot be achieved if oil continues to be drilled. Two lower courts, however, have found the government’s 2016 decision to award 10 licenses to oil firms in the Barents Sea to be legal. Norway has pledged to reduce emissions by at least 50% by 2030 compared to 1990, though environmental groups are skeptical about the country’s ability to meet this pledge if it continues to drill for oil.
