Greenpeace Stages Protest in Norway Against Arctic Drilling

A total of 11 activists from Greenpeace environmental organization have held a peaceful protest near one of the platforms of the Norwegian company Statoil in the Barents Sea, where the search for new oil deposits is underway, the organization said in a statement Friday.

STOCKHOLM (Sputnik) — The rally was held near the Songa Enabler platform. The protest was staged in order to support the trial, which is expected to be held in Norway on November 13. The complaint was filed by Greenpeace and ‘Nature and Youth’ organizations against the Norwegian state over the fact that it had given its permission for oil drilling in previously untouched areas of the Barents sea in the Arctic for the first time in the last 20 years.

Greenpeace activists protest near oil rig in Norway's Arctic sea area https://t.co/ND479BLO8Q via @gfouche @Reuters #SaveTheArctic pic.twitter.com/hYs8W5AKE2

— Greenpeace PressDesk (@greenpeacepress) 21 июля 2017 г.

The aim of the lawsuit is to make oil companies stop further drilling in the Arctic.

In 2016, Greenpeace said that if the lawsuit succeeds, they will be able to keep millions of barrels of oil underground and they will argue in court that stopping oil drilling in the Arctic will ensure that the goals behind Paris climate agreement are being met.

The Paris climate deal of December 2015 is intended to limit global average temperatures to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and reduce countries’ emissions of pollutants that contribute to planetary warming.