The UK Supreme Court has ruled that local councils must consider the full climate impact of burning oil from new wells, in a landmark decision that could impact future oil and gas projects in the UK. The assumption has always been that only the impacts from constructing the wells, and not the use of the final oil products, should be considered under existing planning law. However, the decision in the case against Surrey County Council could threaten new UK fossil fuel projects. The case was brought by on behalf of campaigners, and while it does not stop new drilling, it is something that companies will have to consider when looking at new projects.
The Supreme Court judges did not rule that Surrey County Council should reject the proposal for new oil wells but that it should have considered the downstream emissions. Lawyers acting for the campaigners argued that the council should have considered not just the greenhouse gas emissions from building the wells, but also from burning any oil that was then used – known as downstream emissions. In a three-to-two majority the Supreme Court judges agreed. Summing up the case, Lord Leggatt said it was “inevitable” that oil from the site will be burned, and the resulting greenhouse emissions were “straightforwardly results of the project” which should be considered.
The case relates to the Horse Hill oil well in Surrey, which was given planning permission to expand its operations in 2019. Law firm Leigh Day, which acted for the appellant Sarah Finch, said the impact of the case could stretch to other legal challenges against new projects, including Whitehaven coal mine in Cumbria, and the Rosebank oil field. The UK law on environmental assessments is based in part on European law, so the ruling could have impacts abroad as well.
Ms Finch’s challenge to the project was initially rejected in the High Court, but when it went to the Appeal Court in 2021, the judges returned a split decision and Ms Finch then took her case to the Supreme Court last year. Her victory ends a five-year legal battle on behalf of local residents, in which she was supported by campaigners Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace. The Horse Hill site is expected to produce 3.3 million tonnes of crude oil over the next 20 years, and burning that oil would produce over 10 million tonnes of CO2, according to Friends of the Earth.
Campaigners have welcomed the judgement, claiming that it is a heavy blow for fossil fuel lobbyists, and that the UK is already veering dangerously off track for meeting its legally binding carbon reduction targets, as well as its international pledge to reduce emissions by two-thirds by 2030. Although the emissions from this site are small by the standards of international fossil fuel developments, the repercussions of today’s ruling could reshape the UK’s energy future
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