Rosebank and Jackdaw Oil and Gas Fields Consent Unlawfully Granted, Scottish Court Rules

Shell's Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea was originally approved by the previous UK Conservative government and the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) in summer 2022. Permission for Equinor’s Rosebank oil development, 80 miles west of Shetland in the North Atlantic, was granted in autumn 2023. It is the largest known untapped oil field in UK waters. 

Greenpeace UK launched a legal challenge against both projects, collaborating with Uplift on the Rosebank Challenge, on the grounds that regulators approved them without taking into account the emissions caused from burning the fossil fuels, and as a result they are not compatible with the UK’s legally binding climate commitments. 

The judge Lord Ericht agreed climate impact caused by emissions which would have been released when the fossil fuels were eventually burned should have been considered when granting the approval for Rosebank, not just the impact of emissions caused by the process of extracting oil and gas. 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.” 

As a result, their owners must seek new approval and resubmit a new ‘Environmental Impact Assessment' to the UK Government before beginning production, however construction can continue. 

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...Rosebank is a bad deal for the UK. Most of its oil will be exported and sold on the international market, doing nothing to lower our energy bills or boost UK energy security.” 

In response to the judgement, ClientEarth Lawyer Robert Clarke said, “Today’s ruling is part of a clear trend we’re seeing from courts in the UK - marking the third time in the last year that judges have found that ‘downstream’ emissions must be considered in planning decisions.  

This is a resounding signal from the courtroom that companies and governments can no longer turn a blind eye to the vast majority of the emissions their coal, oil and gas fields create. 

This should be a further warning sign for fossil fuel production in the UK on the back of the Government’s decision to rule out granting any new oil and gas licences in the North Sea. 

Any institutional investor, asset manager or lender backing new fossil fuel projects in the UK is now gambling on a high-risk strategy for its clients with financial prospects seriously in doubt. 

New fossil fuel projects in the UK have never been a riskier investment – and financial institutions both at home and abroad must take that into account when it comes to their portfolios.”