Greenpeace Nordic and Others v. Norway

Date of Application:	Tue, 15 Jun 2021
Date of Decision:	Tue, 28 Oct 2025
Decision Making Body:	European Court of Human Rights
Law Applied:	European Convention on Human Rights
Keywords:	Exploration licenses
	Full Case Details - Download Full Judgment (pdf)

Greenpeace Nordic and Others v. Norway Application no. 34068/21

At Issue: Whether Norway has violated the fundamental rights of Norwegian citizens through the adoption of the decision to license new blocks of Barents Sea for development of deep-sea oil and gas extraction and through the failure to take the necessary measure to address the risk of the climate crisis.

Summary: 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 here.

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.

On 28 October 2025 the ECHR handed down judgment, unanimously making the following order. The Court:

1. Joins the issue of the victim status/locus standi of the applicants under 
Article 8 of the Convention to the assessment of the applicability of that 
provision;
2. Holds that the complaint under Article 8 introduced by the applicant 
organisations is admissible and that the complaints introduced by the 
individual applicants under Article 8 and by all applicants under 
Article 13 and Article 14, in conjunction with Article 8 are inadmissible;
3. Holds that there has been no violation of Article 8 of the Convention; and
4. Holds that it is not necessary to examine separately the complaints under 
Article 2 of the Convention.

Greenpeace Nordic and Others v. Norway - Climate Change Litigation

Summary provided courtesy of the Sabin Center.

Court documents:
Petition 06/15/2021

Related CRC articles

• 6. Right to life, survival and development (CRC Article 6)
• 12. Right to express views freely and have these taken into account (CRC Article 12)

The applicants rely on Articles 2 (right to life) and 8 (right to respect for private life and family life and home) effective domestic remedy under Article 13 of of the European Convention on Human Rights.

40. Applicants 7–8 also represent the interests of future generations. The Court has accepted the rights of NGOs to act on behalf of vulnerable individuals to protect the rights under Articles 2 and 8 in situations where the individual is deceased.

53. The Applicants respectfully allege that the same considerations apply to generations unborn, especially in light of Applicant 7–8’s involvement in the domestic proceedings where their standing was accepted.

Cited CRC articles

• 3. Right to have child’s/children’s best interests taken as primary consideration in all matters affecting them (CRC Article 3)

In application: 
Footnote 35: "Court’s assessment must engage with the precautionary principle, intergenerational equity, and Article 3(1) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child."

Involvement of children in hearings

• Written presentation

Not sure

Intergenerational rights

Petition:

At par 48 "Failure to assess exported emissions has been found a violation of the legal requirement to consider intergenerational equity."

Future generations

Petition:
At par 40. "Applicants 7–8 also represent the interests of future generations. The Court has accepted the rights of NGOs to act on behalf of vulnerable individuals to protect the rights under Articles 2 and 8 in situations where the individual is deceased. The Applicants respectfully allege that the same considerations apply to generations unborn, especially in light of Applicant 7–8’s involvement in the domestic proceedings where their standing was accepted."

At par 37. "Younger and future generations will carry the heaviest burden of climate change."

Outcome of decision for the applicants

• Decision pending

Did outcome of decision develop the law

• Not sure

Decision pending

Involvement of NGO/law firm in application

Greenpeace Nordic, Natur og Ungdom (the youth branch of the Norwegian chapter of Friends of the Earth Norway, an environmental youth organisation in Norway with about 8,000 individual members and 60 local groups across Norway).

Natur og ungdom - 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.

Age range of litigants

• Other (Under 25)

Number of children or youth involved

6