Greenpeace and other environmental groups had hoped to stop the Norwegian government from granting oil field exploration licenses. The groups argued this violated the Norwegian constitution and the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Norway's Borgarting Court of Appeal unanimously decided that Norway's decision to permit new exploration licenses in the Arctic's Barents Sea, off northern Norway, does not violate the Norwegian constitution nor the 2015 Paris Agreement.
As Iceland marks the first loss of one of its glaciers to climate change, the melting of glaciers in other parts of the world continues to gain momentum.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/NASA
Death of a glacier
Iceland paid tribute to its Okjokull ice sheet on Sunday, holding a funeral for the first glacier lost to climate change. Known as 'Ok' for short, Okjokull lost its status as a glacier in 2014. At Sunday's ceremony, mourners unveiled a plaque announcing that all the country's main glaciers are expected to follow the same path in the next 200 years.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Richard
Antarctica: Huge glacier, huge risk
The Thwaites Glacier, part of the West Antarctic ice sheet, is believed to pose the greatest risk to rising sea levels in the future. If it collapses and flows into the sea, it could trigger a 50 cm sea level rise, a NASA-funded study found earlier this year. Antarctica is home to 50 times more ice than all the world's mountain glaciers combined.
Image: Imago Images/Zuma/NASA
Patagonian beauty melting
Chile's Grey Glacier is in the Patagonian Icefields, which account for the largest expanse of ice in the southern hemisphere outside of Antarctica. Researchers are closely monitoring the melt in the region, as it could help them understand how other glaciers, such as those in Antarctica and Greenland, could look in warmer climates of the future.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/blickwinkel/E. Hummel
Alpine ice wrapped up for summer
The Rhone Glacier in Switzerland is the source of the river Rhone. For several years, scientists have been covering its ice with UV-resistant white blankets during summer, in an attempt to slow the melting. Researchers say our warming climate could eradicate two thirds of the ice in Alpine glaciers by the end of this century.
Image: Imago Images/S. Spiegl
New Zealand: From hiking to helicopter
Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand's South Island is a popular tourist destination. The glacier used to follow a cyclical pattern of advance and retreat. But since 2008, Franz Josef has been rapidly shrinking. Guides used to be able to lead tourists straight onto the glacier by foot. Now, the only way they can get there is to fly in by helicopter.
Image: DW/D. Killick
African ice disappearing
Glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro are also at risk. Back in 2012, NASA-supported researchers estimated what is left of the ice on Africa's highest mountain would be gone by 2020. Kilimanjaro is a top attraction for tourists in Tanzania, and a crucial generator of revenue in a country where the majority of people live below the poverty line.
Image: Imago Images/robertharding/C. Kober
Melting dangerously
The US state of Alaska is home to thousands of glaciers. Some of them are melting 100 times faster than scientists previously thought, a 2019 study found. Earlier this month, two Germans and an Austrian were found dead after going kayaking on Valdez Glacier Lake. Officials say the tourists were likely killed by falling glacial ice.
Image: imago/Westend61
Greenland's Jakobshavn: Growth is not enough
Jakobshaven, Greenland's largest glacier, is actually growing, a NASA study revealed earlier this year. But while one edge of the glacier has thickened slightly since 2016, the overall ice sheet is still melting rapidly, far outweighing expansion. Scientists believe the growth is due to an influx of unusually cold water from the north Atlantic - but they expect warmer waters will soon return.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/NASA
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Oil exploration may not lead to drilling
The appeals court in its ruling said while Article 112 applied to "emissions of greenhouse gases from the combustion of oil and gas after export" from Norway, it added that it was "uncertain whether viable discoveries will be made and whether the decision will lead to emissions."
The court added that new assessments could be expected if oil and gas fields were to be developed following exploration.
Nature and Youth vow to keep fighting, Greenpeace welcomes ruling
Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace, Norway, called the ruling "a big step closer to victory."
"The appeals court affirms that the constitution's environmental article is a right, that all emissions must be viewed in a context and that emissions from the use of Norwegian oil abroad are relevant under the environmental article," added Pleym.
"We believe we will win this case, whether it be in the courtroom or outside," said Therese Hugstmyr Woie, head of Nature and Youth.
The groups intend to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Environmental groups are increasingly taking up legal challenges against governments to force them to protect the environment. Most recently, the Hague Appeals Court ordered the Dutch government to cut greenhouse emissions faster than planned after a lawsuit by environmental group Urgenda.
