Climate Campaigners Win A Round As Scottish Court Invalidates Rosebank Oil Development Plan

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Last Updated on: 31st January 2025, 03:21 am

In a country where the rule of law is still in full force and effect, a judge of the Court of Sessions in Scotland has ruled in favor of climate campaigners and climate experts. The ruling found the original decisions to permit Rosebank oil field and a smaller methane field called Jackdaw were unlawful because they had not taken into account the carbon emissions created by burning any oil and gas produced there. In his ruling, the judge said, “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.”

According to The Guardian, the proposed Rosebank development in the North Sea near Shetland is the UK’s biggest untapped oil field. Permits to proceed with its development were approved by the prior Tory government in 2023. Shell and Equinor have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into Rosebank and Jackdaw, with Equinor saying it had lined up $2.7 billion in contracts for the estimated 300 million barrels of oil and gas expected to be extracted beginning in 2026 or 2027.

Tessa Khan of the climate campaign group Uplift, which has been leading the campaign to stop Rosebank, told The Guardian the judge’s ruling was a significant milestone. “This … means that Rosebank cannot go ahead without accounting for its enormous climate harm,” she said. Philip Evans, from Greenpeace, described the judgment as “an historic win.” He added, “The age of governments approving new drilling sites by ignoring their climate impacts is over. The courts have agreed with what climate campaigners have said all along — Rosebank and Jackdaw are unlawful, and their full climate impacts must now be properly considered.”

Campaigners had argued that there was no economic, energy security, or climate rationale for drilling for more oil and gas in the North Sea since the vast majority of any oil produced would be sold on the international market instead of added to the energy security of British consumers. The International Energy Agency has said repeatedly that no new oil and gas exploration should take place if the world is to limit global heating to 1.5º C above pre-industrial temperatures. In fact, that benchmark was probably breached in 2024, a fact that won’t be confirmed until all the data from last year is in and analyzed.

UK trade unions and climate justice campaigners argue that the government should invest in renewable energy to meet climate goals, safeguard oil workers and their communities, and provide cheap, secure energy. James Alexander, the chief executive of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association agreed, saying renewable energy was the “UK’s key growth sector of the future. That is where we should be focusing our up-skilling efforts and attracting the billions available in private investment.”

The court’s ruling means the decisions on Jackdaw and Rosebank must now be reconsidered by the UK government, which has pledged not to grant any new licences for oil and gas in the dwindling North Sea basin — although, technically, that does not include granting “production licences,” which is what both Rosebank and Jackdaw would require. A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the government had already consulted on revised environmental guidance to take into account emissions from burning extracted oil and gas, and is expected to report back in the spring. “We will respond to this consultation as soon as possible and developers will be able to apply for consents under this revised regime. Our priority is to deliver a fair, orderly, and prosperous transition in the North Sea in line with our climate and legal obligations, which drives towards our clean energy future of energy security, lower bills, and good, long-term jobs.”

No New Oil In The North Sea

The Stop Rosebank coalition, made up of grassroots campaigners and organizations, said the climate pollution from Rosebank “would be more than the combined annual CO2 emissions of all 28 low-income countries in the world, including Uganda, Ethiopia, and Mozambique. In other words, emissions from this one UK field would be more than those created by the 700 million people in the world’s poorest countries in a year. These are among the same countries that have contributed the least to the climate crisis but are already experiencing the worst impacts of a warming planet.” The campaign group Fossil Free London promptly organized a rally outside the Norwegian embassy to celebrate the verdict and call on Equinor not to appeal the ruling. “There can be victories in the world of climate protest,” one advocate said. The ruling was in line with a decision handed down by the UK Supreme Court last year which said local authorities must consider the full environmental impact of all new fossil fuel projects before they are approved.

According to Common Dreams, Freya Aitchison, oil and gas campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said the ruling is the latest evidence “new oil is over.”

“This signals the beginning of the end for fossil fuel production in the UK. Political attention must immediately turn to developing an urgent and fair transition plan for workers. This is a momentous victory for climate justice. It shows the power of the hundreds of thousands of people who have fought against the climate-wrecking Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields for years. The UK Government must now end this disastrous project, rule out all new oil fields and fossil fuel developments and focus on delivering a planned, funded transition for oil workers. This ruling is a turning point, we can and must choose a better future,” she said.

Carla Denyer, a Member of Parliament for the Green Party, called on the Labour government to “refuse consent for the 13 other oil and gas drilling projects licensed by the previous government,” the way the Danish government did four years ago. Global Justice Now said the government should also turn its attention to the entire planet and support calls for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. “This is a huge milestone towards a livable planet and away from polluting fossil fuels,” said Liz Murray, head of the group’s Scottish campaigns. “Now we need global coordination to end new oil and gas not just here but around the world. The UK government should back calls from some of the most climate vulnerable countries for a fossil fuel treaty to plan a clean energy future that leaves no worker, community or country behind.”