“New oil and gas field consent was unlawful – judge”, 30 January 2025

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The written judgement on the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields came after a case brought by environmental campaigners, Uplift and Greenpeace, at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

In his 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.

Shell's Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea was originally approved by the previous UK Conservative government, and the industry regulator, in summer 2022…

Norwegian state energy giant Equinor has an 80% stake in Rosebank with Aberdeen-based Ithaca Energy owning the rest…

As part of the original consenting process, environmental impact assessments were carried out to identify, describe and assess "the direct and indirect effects" of the projects.

Those assessments took into account emissions generated by the process of extracting oil and gas but not the greenhouse gases which would be released when those fossil fuels were eventually burned - known as "downstream" or "Scope 3" emissions.

But last June, in a dispute about oil wells near London's Gatwick Airport, the UK Supreme Court ruled that environmental impact assessments must also include downstream emissions.

Now Lord Ericht has ruled that the decision in that case – Finch v Surrey County Council – should apply retrospectively to Rosebank and Jackdaw…

As a result, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and the regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (formerly known as the Oil and Gas Authority), must reconsider whether or not to grant consent, taking into account those downstream emissions…