A judge has upheld a legal challenge by environmental campaigners against the decision to grant consent to two new oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
Greenpeace and Uplift brought the challenge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh over decisions to give approval to the Rosebank oil field north west of Shetland and the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen.
In a judgement published today, Lord Ericht said the decision to grant consent was unlawful, and ruled the consent should be “reduced” (quashed) and reconsidered.
Senior campaigner at Greenpeace UK Philip Evans said: “This is a historic win – the age of governments approving new drilling sites by ignoring their climate impacts is over.”
Protests taking place against the oil fields
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Climate activists from Greenpeace and Uplift during a demonstration outside the Scottish Court of Session, Edinburgh
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A judge has upheld a legal challenge by environmental campaigners against the decision to grant consent to two new oil and gas fields in the North Sea
PA
The former Conservative-led UK government approved Shell’s proposals to develop the Jackdaw field in 2022, and cleared Equinor and Ithaca Energy’s plans to drill in the Rosebank field in September 2023. Greenpeace and Uplift brought the challenge to the court over concerns about the impact on climate change.
In his published opinion, he said: “Having considered all the circumstances of the case and the various public and private interests, I have reached the conclusion that the balance lies in favour of granting reduction.
“The public interest in authorities acting lawfully and the private interest of members of the public in climate change outweigh the private interest of the developers.
“The factors advanced by Shell, Equinor and Ithaca in respect of their private interest do not justify the departure on equitable grounds from the normal remedy of reduction of an unlawful decision. The decisions will be reduced, and can be taken again, this time taking into account downstream emissions.”
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Climate activists from Greenpeace and Uplift during a demonstration outside the Scottish Court of Session, Edinburgh
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Executive director of Uplift Tessa Khan said: “This is a significant win which means that Rosebank cannot go ahead without accounting for its enormous climate harm.
“The continued burning of oil and gas is why we are seeing more extreme weather like Storm Eowyn and flooding that have claimed lives and caused hundreds of millions of pounds in damage and clean-up costs, not to mention the devastation it’s causing in other countries.
“Most people are now joining the dots with endless oil and gas drilling and are worried about the future.”
More to follow…
