Title: Oil giant, climate saviour, or somewhere in between? Human rights and the Norwegian climate paradox

Authors: Erick da Luz Scherf; Marcos Vinicius Viana da Silva

Addresses: Department of Social Studies, The University of Stavanger, P.O. Box 8600, 4036 Stavanger, Norway ' School of Legal and Social Sciences, The University of Vale do Itajai, Rua Uruguai, 458, Itajaí – SC, 88302-901, Brazil

Abstract: Norway's recent decision to expand oil and gas exploration further North into the Barents Sea is contrasted with its active leadership role in global climate policymaking. We argue that this contradiction is a result of the key role petro-capitalism still plays in Norway, in addition to the country's geopolitical aspirations in the Arctic. However, solely legalistic approaches to human rights and sustainability often miss out on the dynamics of power, capitalism, and industry interests and their influences on climate litigation. Thus, this article presents a critical assessment of climate and environmental litigation at the European Court of Human Rights by also looking at the recent application Greenpeace Nordic and Others against Norway. The goal is to understand both the possibilities and limitations of the human rights-sustainability framework vis-à-vis fossil fuel industries and the overall position of environmental rights claims within global capitalism.

Keywords: human rights; climate change; Norway; European Court of Human Rights; ECtHR; oil industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2024.139509

International Journal of Public Law and Policy, 2024 Vol.10 No.3, pp.227 - 243

Received: 08 Jan 2023
Accepted: 27 Jan 2023
Published online: 03 Jul 2024 *

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