Landmark ruling could put UK fossil fuel projects at risk

Jonathan Salariya / Friends of the Earth

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THE impact of burning fossil fuels should be taken into account when approving energy developments, the UK’s Supreme Court has ruled in a verdict that may put future oil, gas, and coal projects at risk.

The ruling centered on a case brought against Surrey County Council by local resident Sarah Finch. In 2019, the council granted permission for Horse Hill Development to expand oil production at its onshore drilling site. Finch argued that the Council should have required Horse Hill to assess not only the environmental impacts of direct emissions from activities at the drill site (scope 1 and 2 emissions) but also the impacts of the downstream greenhouse gas emissions (scope 3) that will result from the eventual use of the refined products produced from the oil extracted there.

The High Court and Court of Appeal disagreed with Finch but Supreme Court judges have now ruled 3-2 in her favour. Writing in judgment, they said: “The purpose of the Environmental Impact Assessment is to ensure that, whatever the decision taken, it is taken with full knowledge and public awareness of the likely significant environmental consequences. Consequently, the council’s failure to assess the effect on climate of the combustion of the oil that would be produced from the proposed well site means that its decision to grant planning permission for the project was unlawful.”

They added: “The legislation does not prevent the planning authority from giving consent for a project that is likely to cause significant harm to the environment; but it requires the authority to reach a reasoned conclusion on the environmental impact and to take this conclusion into account in making its decision.”

Finch brought the case on behalf of Weald Action Group, a coalition of campaigners opposing oil and gas projects across the region. The group said the landmark ruling would make it harder for new fossil fuel projects to go ahead.