Environmental activists from Greenpeace Norway protested yesterday against the awarding of new oil licenses in the 25th licensing round, demanding that the next government advocate a complete halt to all oil exploration.

Activists chained themselves in front of the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy after it became known that the country’s minister, Tina Bru, handed out four new oil licenses to seven oil and gas companies, of which three were in the Arctic Barents Sea.

Carrying banners that said “No to new oil” and “Norwegian oil is boiling the planet”, activists sat in chains in front of the ministry’s entrance as the ministry’s workers arrived for work.

“This government has made it clear that it ignores the environmental and economic writing on the wall. We demand that a new government takes the climate crisis seriously and puts an end to all new oil exploration,” said Frode Pleym, leader of Greenpeace Norway.

The environmental group believes that the government should listen to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which recently declared that new oil and gas development is incompatible with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming, and cancel the 25th licensing round.

“Norway must wake up and understand that Norwegian oil leads to irreparable damage to the climate. If we are to limit climate change, Norway must also stop the search for more oil and gas,” Pleym said.