Not for the first time the UK has left itself open to legal challenge by the usual greenblob suspects for not following its own self-imposed climate rules. When will they wise up, and what exactly does considering “the effects on climate of the combustion of oil and gas to be extracted from the fields” really mean, if anything? The report says ‘the government may end up with the final say on whether or not drilling should go ahead’ – which already happened once, except it wasn’t final.
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The UK government has admitted in court that the country’s largest untapped oilfield, Rosebank off Shetland, was approved unlawfully, reports BBC News.
The move came during a case brought by climate campaigners against both Rosebank and the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea.
At the Court of Session in Edinburgh Chris Pirie KC, for the government, accepted that assessments did not include “the effects on climate of the combustion of oil and gas to be extracted from the fields.”
Rosebank was given the green light on 27 September 2023 and Jackdaw on 1 June 2022, both by the previous Conservative administration.
As part of the consenting process, the government was required to consider environmental impact assessments about the fields.
These took into account the impact on climate change of emissions caused by the process of extracting oil and gas but not of greenhouse gases which would be released when the fossil fuels were eventually burned.
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The firms involved — Shell, Equinor, and Ithaca Energy — say they should be allowed to carry on with drilling because permission was granted in good faith under the law as it was understood at the time.
For Shell, Christine O’Neill KC told the court that any temporary pause and resumption of works would not be straightforward, and appeared to suggest that it would amount to the Jackdaw project being “brought to a permanent end.”
Full report here.
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Image: North Sea oil platform [image credit: matchtech.com]
via Tallbloke’s Talkshop
November 14, 2024 at 03:45AM
