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Norway looks for to end environment injunction against 3 oilfields

Norway's federal government will ask an appeals court on Wednesday to raise injunctions against developing three oil and gas fields, part of a wider effort by Oslo to reverse an earlier decision revoking their licenses on ecological premises.

A lower court ruled in January that Norway's energy ministry failed to totally assess the climate impact from the future usage of the fields' oil and gas, so-called scope three emissions, in a. suit brought by Greenpeace and its partner Nature and Youth.

At that time, the court likewise purchased short-term injunctions. versus the development of the 3 fields called Yggdrasil,. Tyrving and Breidablikk.

But the appeals court in March put the injunctions on hold,. providing the government and field operators Aker BP and. Equinor leeway to continue working on the fields.

A hearing starting on Wednesday will figure out whether the. injunctions need to be permanently lifted or restored till a. final ruling is made on the legality of the field advancement. authorizations at the core of the case.

Norway, Europe's largest gas supplier and a significant manufacturer. of oil, fears that court-imposed limitations on the development. of new fields could obstruct its most successful industry and cost. the nation billions of dollars in lost revenue.

The government says that while it seeks to pump hydrocarbons. for years to come it is adhering to the Paris climate. accords looking for to limit global warming and has set a net-zero. emission target for 2050.

Equinor's Breidablikk field began production in October. 2023, while Aker BP's Tyrving started production today,. drawing criticism from the plaintiffs.

This just proves why there is a need to have injunctions on. the fields' advancement, Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace. Norway, informed Reuters.

Yggdrasil, which is likewise run by Aker BP, is set to. start production in 2027.

(source: Reuters)