UK quashes new oil drilling project following landmark ruling

The UK on Thursday reversed a decision granting permission for an oil drilling operation in the Lincolnshire Wolds following a landmark ruling on fossil fuel projects, lawyers said. 

Campaigners from environmental watchdog SOS Biscathorpe brought the claim against the government after it approved plans for exploratory drilling and production in 2023.

"It is clear that the unequivocal link between fossil fuel extraction and climate crisis can no longer be ignored," said Mathilda Dennis, a campaigner with SOS Biscathorpe, in a statement.

The move is in response to a judgment from Britain’s highest court last month ruling that planning authorities must also consider the impacts of burning – not just extracting – fossil fuels when deciding whether or not to approve projects.  

A majority decision from three of the five judges determined on 20 June, after nearly a year, that a local council had unlawfully permitted an oil project. The  majority rejected the arguments made by the council, the developer, and the government that the emissions from burning the oil were not in their control and said that any suggestion that local planning authorities are unable to consider climate change when making development decisions is “misguided.” 

With any fossil fuel project, the emissions from burning the fuel are larger than those from simply setting up shop. So, while the developers of the oil project were compliant with an EU directive mandating that any development likely to have a significant impact on the environment must carry out an environmental impact assessment (EIA), the legal challenge argued that the EIA for the drilling project was too narrowly focused on dredging oil from the ground. 

It is the first time in UK legislative history that a judgment has ruled that planners should consider the emissions from burning fossil fuels down the line—known as scope 3 emissions—and not just those from the project’s direct operations. The ruling follows a similar one in Norway earlier this year. 

The two judgments indicate that the world is “reaching a tipping point where countries and companies are going to have to comprehensively account for the impact of every fossil fuel project on the climate,” said Sophie Marjanac, a lawyer with the environmental charity ClientEarth, in a statement. 

The judgment will impact oil and gas projects that have been awarded a license for exploration but have not yet received development consent. Many expect that coal mining will also likely be affected – and they will soon find out, as a legal challenge against a coal mine is held in the High Court next week.

Newly-elected Labour Party promises no new drilling projects

The move follows an announcement from the recently-elected Labour Party – which, last week, officially replaced 14 years of Conservative rule in Britain – stating its intention to end new oil and gas drilling while doubling onshore wind, tripling solar power, and quadrupling the UK’s offshore wind power capacity.

A government spokesperson said: “As previously stated, we will not issue new licenses to explore new fields. We will also not revoke existing oil and gas licenses and will manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan.”

Policy experts at the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently determined that no new oil fields are needed to meet energy demand as the world attempts to achieve net zero emissions. Yet, a separate IEA report concluded that global investment in fossil fuels has increased yearly since 2020, even as governments announced net zero emissions targets.