The 2024 Supreme Count judgment on the case Weald Action Group’s Horse Hill case is a key factor
Scotland’s Court of Session has today ruled that the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields were approved unlawfully. Consent for their development has been quashed.
In both cases, consent was granted with no assessment of the impact of the greenhouse gas emissions that would arise when the oil and gas to be extracted was eventually burned (known as ‘scope 3’ or ‘downstream’ emissions).
The Supreme Court ruled in June 2024 that these emissions must be taken into account. This was in their judgement on a case brought by campaigner Sarah Finch on behalf of the Weald Action Group concerning an onshore oil site at Horse Hill in Surrey.
Now the Scottish Court of Session has reached the same conclusion on Rosebank and Jackdaw.
Today’s ruling is a huge victory for campaign groups Uplift and Greenpeace UK, which brought the legal challenges, and for the many campaigners who have worked so hard on this vital issue.
If Rosebank’s and Jackdaw’s operators still wish to move ahead with the projects, they must now resubmit environmental statements to the UK government which account for the fields’ full, enormous downstream emissions.
However the UK government is currently consulting on how to assess the scope 3 emissions of new oil and gas projects, and will not approve any new fields until this concludes in spring.
Sarah Finch said, “This is a huge win for the climate. Both the UK Supreme Court and the Scottish Court of Session have now ruled that it’s wrong to permit fossil fuel developments without assessing their full climate impacts – just as we argued all along.”
“The government must now recognise that the fossil fuel era is over. It must stop licensing new oil and gas projects, in the North Sea and onshore, and prioritise investment in energy efficiency, renewables, and a fair transition and green jobs for workers leaving the fossil fuel industry.”
Alice Owen from the Weald Action Group said, “We are incredibly proud of our successful campaign on Horse Hill, which has turned the tide on UK fossil fuel developments.
“But we’ll be keeping a close eye on the government as their oil and gas consultation concludes in the Spring. It is so important that this monumental progress towards energy transition is not reversed. Climate crisis is already here, but every fraction of a degree and every barrel of oil still counts.”
Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift 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.”
“Rosebank is not the answer to energy security, lower bills or jobs. It would simply make obscenely rich oil companies even richer, while increasing the dangers for the rest of us.”
Philip Evans, senior campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “Fossil fuels are an economic dead end. Now that the ball is back in the government’s court, ministers have the opportunity to sort out the legal mess left by their predecessors. They should use this moment to set out a new path for the North Sea, reaffirming their commitment to no new oil and gas, and prioritising clean energy.”
Notes to Editors
The Rosebank oil field and Jackdaw gas field were both approved by the previous government. Greenpeace filed a legal challenge against Jackdaw in July 2022. Uplift and Greenpeace filed separate cases against Rosebank in October 2023. All three cases were paused pending the decision of the UK Supreme Court in the case of Finch v Surrey County Council, then heard together by the Scottish Court of Session in November 2024.
The government withdrew its defence of the legal challenges in light of the Supreme Court judgment on Finch on behalf of the Weald Action Group.
For more on the ‘Finch’ case see our report: Historic win as Supreme Court upholds landmark climate case and the Supreme Court’s website at: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2022-0064