“The decision to greenlight a giant new oilfield off Shetland has been ruled unlawful by the courts in a major win for environmental campaigners,” reports the Guardian.

“The proposed Rosebank development – the UK’s biggest untapped oilfield – had been given the go-ahead in 2023 under the previous government.”

The ruling

The court ruling, from the court of session in Edinburgh, was in response to cases brought by two environmental groups, Uplift and Greenpeace, who argued the UK government had acted unlawfully when granting consent for the field.

In a 57-page judgement, Lord Ericht said a more detailed assessment of the fields’ environmental impact was required, taking into account the effect on the climate of burning any fossil fuels extracted. He said work on both fields could continue while the new information was gathered but no oil and gas could be extracted unless fresh approval was granted.

Importantly, the ruling stated: “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 go-ahead for the oilfield was originally given by the previous Conservative government. But last June, in a dispute about oil wells near London’s Gatwick Airport, the UK Supreme Court ruled that environmental impact assessments had to also include downstream emissions as well. Today’s judgment is in line with that ruling.

An important victory

Campaigners hailed today’s ruling as an important victory. “Burning Rosebank’s oil and gas would produce more CO2 than the 28 poorest countries do in a year,” declared Stop Rosebank. “Claims that Rosebank is compatible with a safe climate don’t add up – and we proved it in court.”

Lauren MacDonald, from the Stop Rosebank campaign, said the oil and gas companies did not have Scotland’s interests at heart. “Almost all of Rosebank’s oil would be sold overseas, doing nothing to lower our bills or make us more secure, with most of the profits going straight to the state-backed Norwegian firm, Equinor,” she said. “It’s not fair that people here are now suffering the impacts of climate change, which is driven by fossil fuels and which will get worse as long as companies are allowed to open huge new drilling sites.”

Despite not benefiting from future oil exports, the UK public would nonetheless effectively carry almost all the costs of developing Rosebank, with the field’s owners receiving billions of pounds in tax breaks. Nor would the development protect UK jobs for oil and gas workers. In fact, its drilling ship is currently being built in Dubai.

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.”

She added: “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.”

Warm This Winter spokesperson Caroline Simpson agreed: “We need to stop drilling to bring down bills for good so we are obviously pleased by today’s verdict. The UK has 6.5 million people in fuel poverty and one of the main causes is the fact energy prices are based on expensive gas and oil.

“For far too long the public have been held hostage by profiteering oil companies making billions, not just at the expense of the planet but  at the expense of ordinary people who are paying £700 more than they did three years ago on energy with too many having to choose between eating and heating.

“That’s why we need to ramp up renewables, insulate our homes and end our reliance on fossil fuels once and for all. Today is a good day as Rosebank’s oil would do nothing for UK bill payers.”

Shell’s profits dip

Putting a brave face on today’s ruling, a spokesperson for Shell, the company behind the Jackdaw field, welcomed the court decision, saying it allowed its preparatory work to continue while new consents are sought.

Shell’s profits dipped to a mere £19bn for last year amid falling global oil and gas prices,  but its investors are still in line for a multibillion-dollar dividend windfall.

Warm This Winter spokesperson Caroline Simpson commented on this too: “Shell’s obscene profits may have dipped a bit this quarter but this one oil giant has made over £88 billion since 2020, trading on the misery of 6.5 million people in the UK in official fuel poverty – and every single billpayer as we are all forking out a whopping £700 more on energy than we did since the start of energy crisis.

“Today’s profits just show once again how oil and gas firms and their billionaire supporters are attempting to keep us hooked on fossil fuels by pushing for more drilling, which means sky high prices for longer for the rest of us.

“The only way to secure the UK’s energy supply and bring down bills for good is by continuing to ramp up our supply of homegrown renewable energy. Exports of surplus clean electricity to France saw a significant boost last weekend following high winds across the UK, so it is imperative we keep ahead of this international energy trend, not cling onto outdated, expensive and dirty methods which are already on the way out.

“In the meantime, the government must deliver on its Warm Homes Plan to provide a proper programme of insulation and ventilation to ensure everyone can benefit from healthy, energy efficient homes.”

What now?

What happens next? Following last year’s Supreme Court ruling, the government ran a consultation on environmental guidance to take account of “downstream emissions” from burning extracted oil and gas, and is expected to report back in the spring.

Ahad of that, campaigners plan to keep the pressure on with a No New Oil & Gas MP & MSP Week of Action from 3rd to 9th March, ensuring that that every MP and MSP hears from their constituents on the issue.

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Sea_oil_rig.jpg Source: North Sea Oil Rig. Author: Gary Bembridge from London, UK, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.