Greenpeace has launched a renewed attempt to challenge the UK’s latest offshore oil and gas licensing round in court.
In an oral permissions hearing scheduled at the High Court on Tuesday, the campaign group says it intends to challenge the government’s “reckless” decision to conduct a new offshore licensing round.
Enacted under the short tenure of Prime Minister Liz Truss, last year’s 33rd Licensing Round saw the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) offer more than 900 blocks of offshore acreage, with the regulator suggesting that over 100 licences could eventually be handed out for new oil and gas exploration.
Greenpeace says it intends to challenge the government on the basis that it has “botched the decision making process”, overseen at that time by Jacob Rees Mogg in the first days of the Truss administration, and “failed to properly assess the climate impact” of the 33rd licensing round.
It also argues that the co-defendant, the NSTA, opened the round unlawfully.
It says that none of the Government’s tests look at emissions created from burning fossil fuels, despite the fact that these will amount to more than 80% of the total emissions generated from the new licences.
It also pointed to an imminently awaited decision by the government over whether to approve development of the Rosebank field.
A Government spokesperson said: “It’s vital we continue to maintain our energy security by boosting our homegrown energy supply and strengthening our domestic resilience. While our plans to power up Britain include significant investment in new renewable and nuclear projects, the transition to non-fossil forms of energy cannot happen overnight, as recognised by the independent Climate Change Committee.”
Applications for the 33rd Licensing Round closed in early January, with NSTA confirming it had received 115 applications from 76 companies, with bids covering 258 blocks and part-blocks.
The results of the round are expected in late spring 2023.
‘Time is running out’
Tuesday’s hearing is the group’s latest attempt to get its case heard, after an initial application for Judicial Review was rejected. Greenpeace UK has instructed Kate Harrison of Harrison Grant Ring as its representation.
Despite this earlier rejection, a spokesperson for the organisation said: “We think any reasonable court will see it is utterly irresponsible for a government to approve new oil and gas licences without even knowing the full impact it would have on the climate. If they don’t, we will keep campaigning to end new oil and gas, using the various tactics at our disposal.”
Greenpeace UK’s climate campaigner Philip Evans said: “We’ve had warning after warning that there must be no new oil, and now time is running out. Yet the Government continues to ignore the experts, approving new oil and gas without even bothering to check the full climate impact.
“That’s why we’re challenging them in the High Court today. If Grant Shapps disagrees with the IPCC assessment, the IEA, and warnings from the UN Chief we’d love to hear his rationale.
“Relying on fossil fuels is disastrous for our energy security, the cost of living, and the climate. So why is the Government hell bent on approving new licences? It begs the question of whose interests they really serve.
“The Government must instead properly tax fossil fuel companies and use the money to upgrade our old fashioned electricity grid, invest in cheap home grown renewables and lift planning blocks that hold them back, and invest in stopping energy waste from our homes. This is the only way we can tackle the scandal of the cost of living, guarantee our energy security, and help the climate.”
Recent months saw activists from the group board the Penguins FPSO – Shell’s first new manned vessel for the UK in 30 years – and stage a 13-day “occupation” of the vessel during its transit to the North Sea, travelling nearly 4,000km in the process.
Meanwhile, a separate application by Greenpeace for a judicial review of the UK Government’s decision to approve Shell’s Jackdaw field is currently on hold, pending the outcome of a separate case brought against Surrey County Council in the Supreme Court.
The group expects this case to reach court at some point next year.
“We’re also closely monitoring developments on proposals for new fields like Cambo and Rosebank, and we stand ready to challenge the government any time they unlawfully approve new oil and gas,” a spokesperson added.
Recommended for you
