The Oslo District Court [official website, in Norwegian] ruled [judgment, PDF, in Norwegian] Thursday that the government may allow Arctic drilling.

The ruling was a defeat for environmental groups Nature and Youth and Greenpeace Nordic [advocacy websites, in Norwegian], which had argued that allowing the drilling would violate the country’s obligations under the Paris Agreement [materials] on climate change as well as the Norwegian Constitution [text, PDF].

The groups had sued the government to invalidate drilling licenses. The court rejected their arguments and ordered them to pay 580,000 kroner (USD $71,435) in legal fees.

The groups have decried [press release, in Norwegian] the court’s decision and are considering appeal [AP report].