{"id":54909,"date":"2026-05-28T16:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/54909\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T16:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:03:09","slug":"sampension-backs-open-letter-urging-eu-to-resist-arctic-oil-and-gas-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/54909\/","title":{"rendered":"Sampension backs open letter urging EU to resist Arctic oil and gas push"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketsgroup.org\/forums\/nordics-investors-retreat\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.marketsgroup.org\/forums\/nordics-investors-retreat\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Join us at Nordics Investor Retreat<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Danish pension fund Sampension has signed onto an open letter to the European Commission urging the European Union to maintain its opposition to new Arctic oil and gas development.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move comes as the EU is currently reviewing its Arctic strategy and is reconsidering its opposition to oil and gas extraction in the Arctic as a result of the crisis in the Middle East and disruptions to global energy markets in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine War, according to a press release. The bloc has previously opposed expanded Arctic fossil fuel development on climate and environmental grounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The letter, which was backed by 127 signatories that include investors, researchers, trade unions, NGOs and former senior politicians, argued that expanding fossil fuel extraction in the Arctic would expose Europe to financial, geopolitical and environmental risks while undermining the bloc\u2019s climate goals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe naturally acknowledge that first with the Ukraine war and now with the Iran war, there has clearly been an increased need to ensure European security of supply,\u201d said Jacob Ehlerth J\u00f8rgensen, Sampension\u2019s head of environmental, social and governance, in the release. \u201cBut in our view, new oil and gas extraction in the Arctic is the wrong way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Signatories warned that Arctic energy projects carry heightened geopolitical risks because of their proximity to Russian waters and critical energy infrastructure, raising the threat of sabotage and supply disruptions. They also pointed out that new Arctic oil and gas projects would do little to address Europe\u2019s near-term energy needs because development timelines are long and existing gas infrastructure in Norway, the UK and the EU would be sufficient if the bloc meets its 2040 climate targets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The letter cited analyses from consultancy Rystad Energy suggesting commercially viable Arctic reserves are significantly smaller than Norwegian government estimates. It also warned that building new gas pipelines would require major investments and long-term supply contracts that could lock Europe into fossil fuel dependence beyond 2050.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the signatories are Norwegian investor Jens Ulltveit-Moe, former UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft and former German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Habeck, who negotiated agreements to increase German gas imports from Norway after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, is now backing calls for the EU to reject further Arctic oil and gas expansion. The coalition also warned that increased industrial activity in the Arctic would pose severe environmental risks in a region already warming significantly faster than the global average.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Join us at Nordics Investor Retreat Danish pension fund Sampension has signed onto an open letter to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[32493,12463,553,32494,39,32495,40,1570,32496,32497,32498,32499],"class_list":["post-54909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-arctic-oil-and-gas","tag-climate-policy","tag-energy-security","tag-esg-investing","tag-eu","tag-eu-arctic-policy","tag-european-union","tag-fossil-fuels","tag-mellemfolkeligt-samvirke","tag-norway-arctic-drilling","tag-renewable-energy-transition","tag-sampension"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}