The First Climate Judgment before the Norwegian Supreme Court: Aligning Law with Politics

Christina Voigt

Journal of Environmental Law, 2021, vol. 33, issue 3, 697-710

Abstract: On 22 December 2020, the Norwegian Supreme Court ruled on its first climate case. It dealt with the claim that petroleum licences, issued by the Norwegian government, violate the ‘right to a healthy environment’ as contained in the Norwegian Constitution. The Court rejected the claim and found that the constitutional protection of the environment applies not as a right but as a substantive limit to governmental action, and only in very limited circumstances. Rather than taking the opportunity to give guidance on this constitutional provision, the Court provided a judgment that aligned law with the current politics in favour of continuous petroleum extraction on Norwegian territory.

Keywords: right to a healthy environment; climate change; Paris Agreement; Supreme Court of Norway; judicial review; oil and gas extraction; exported emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:envlaw:v:33:y:2021:i:3:p:697-710.

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