We've just had a historic win for our climate and a liveable future for all.
The UK’s Supreme Court has just ruled that emissions from burning oil and gas must be taken into account when approving oil and gas projects.
This is a monumental decision. Until now, oil and gas developers could get away with ignoring the emissions of actually burning the fossil fuels they extract. Oil and gas projects must now take into account these emissions when seeking approval.
This comes from the judgment in the case against the oil drilling project at Horse Hill in Surrey. The victorious case was brought on by local campaigner Sarah Finch on behalf of Weald Action Group and supported by Friends of the Earth who intervened. Huge thanks to their determination and tireless work.
This now means that we can proceed with our legal case against the Rosebank oil field on very strong grounds and with more confidence than ever. Our case was on hold by the court pending this decision in the Finch case, because one of our grounds is also about the need to assess the emissions from burning the oil and gas. We expect to get the official permission to proceed with the Rosebank case, along with a date for our hearing, very soon.
The Rosebank oil field contains a staggering 500 million barrels of oil. Burning Rosebank's oil and gas would produce more CO2 than the 28 lowest-income countries produce in a year, combined. And now the climate impact of the emissions that will inevitably be produced from the burning of all this oil should be taken into account. If the approval of Horse Hill is considered unlawful because it failed to assess these emissions, then the approval of Rosebank should be considered unlawful too for the same reason.
Want to support our court case against Rosebank? If you’ve not done so already, tell the government that this case is also in your name.
Ocean conservation organisation Oceana also announced yesterday that they are threatening the government with legal action following the decision to grant 31 new oil and gas licences - over a third of which overlap with marine protected areas.
Here is what Sarah Finch had to say after winning the case today:
“This is a welcome step towards a safer, fairer future. The oil and gas companies may act like ‘business as usual’ is still an option, but it will be very hard for planning authorities to permit new fossil fuel developments – in the Weald, the North Sea or anywhere else – when their true climate impact is clear for all to see.”
