Norway's Supreme Court on Friday ruled that three offshore oilfield development permits issued by the government were invalid due to a lack of environmental consideration, but said its decision would not force oil companies to curb output.
The case was decided on procedural grounds, and the government must now reconsider each oilfield in accordance with the correct requirements to determine whether permits to the oil companies can be reissued, the court said.
The lawsuit was brought by activist groups Greenpeace and Young Friends of the Earth, which argued that the government failed to assess the so-called climate impact from burning the fields' oil and gas, known as scope three emissions.
"This is a fantastic news for the climate," Greenpeace Norway leader Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle told reporters. "This changes Norwegian oil policy forever."
Two fields — Equinor's Breidablikk and Aker BP's Tyrving — are already producing, while the biggest of the three, Aker BP's Yggdrasil, is scheduled to come on stream next year.
Equinor and Aker BP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The court said that the oil companies were not the targets of the lawsuit and thus not parties to the case, and that the ruling therefore would not have to suspend their operations.
"However, the Energy Ministry must re-examine the matter, ensuring that the correct procedural requirements are followed," said the court, which ruled by six votes to five in the activist groups' favour.
The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"The verdict means the state has a duty to reprocess the case and we will do so," Norway's Attorney General Fredrik Sejersted told Reuters after the verdict.
The Oslo District Court and the Borgarting Court of Appeal, which earlier heard the case, also ruled against the government.
The activists will now consider whether to sue the companies that operate the fields to halt output, a lawyer for the groups, Jenny Sandvig, told Reuters.
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche and Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik and Tomasz Janowski)