A “substantive error of law” was made when consent was granted for new oil and gas fields in Scottish waters, an environmental group has told a court.
Greenpeace and Uplift have jointly filed a legal challenge at Edinburgh’s Court of Session over the decisions to authorise the new developments. They suggest that authorisation for the Rosebank oil field north-west of Shetland and the Jackdaw oil field off Aberdeen should be halted and reconsidered.
The former Conservative-led UK government authorised Shell’s plans to develop the Jackdaw field in 2022 and cleared Equinor and Ithaca Energy’s proposals to drill in the Rosebank field in September.
According to the two environmental groups, the UK government and the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) neglected to evaluate the entire impact of emissions created by the burning of oil and gas from the fields. They further argye that the rationale for approving the schemes were not transparent, and that the development will damage a marine protected area.
On the first day of the four-day hearing today, Greenpeace UK’s Ruth Crawford KC told the court that a “substantive error of law” had been made when consent was granted for the two schemes based on limited information about their environmental impact, and that the charity was seeking “remedy”.
“It was not simply a matter of discretion on whether or not to take emissions into account, it is a matter of the law the impact of emissions had to be taken into account,” she said.
Ms Crawford urged that both plans should be paused and that the oil companies working on the projects be required to submit revised environmental impact assessments. She stated that these assessments should take into account so-called Scope 3 emissions, which are created by burning all of the oil and gas that would be extracted from the fields.
Shell said Jackdaw is a “vital project for UK energy security” and will provide enough fuel to heat 1.4 million UK homes.
A spokesperson for the firm said following Tuesday’s hearing: “From the outset, Jackdaw has been developed in line with all relevant consents and permits. Stopping the work is a highly complex process, with significant technical and operational issues now that infrastructure is in place and drilling has started in the North Sea.”
Equinor has also said Rosebank is “vital for the UK” in terms of local investment, jobs and energy security.
The case, before Lord Ericht, continues.
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