13.07.2024

UK reverses decision to drill for oil

The UK has reversed its stance on granting permission for an oil extraction operation and dropped its defense against a legal challenge to a new coal mine. This is what activists said after a major decision on fossil fuel projects, quoted by Reuters.

The move comes in response to a major ruling last month by Britain's highest court on the climate impact of fossil fuel projects, which campaigners say could have a profound impact on new fossil fuel projects in Britain.

The High Court has ruled that planning authorities must consider the impact of burning, not just the extraction of fossil fuels, when deciding whether to approve projects. Law firm Leigh Day said ministers in the former Conservative government agreed to overturn a 2023 decision to allow oil drilling in Lincolnshire, east England, on July 4, the day of the national election in which the Conservatives were replaced in government by Labour.

Judge Judith Farby said in a court order that the project permit issue would be remanded for a new decision to be made in light of the Supreme Court's decision.

Matilda Dennis - a campaigner from SOS Biscathorpe who launched a legal challenge to the project - said in a statement that "it is clear that the unequivocal link between fossil fuel extraction and the climate crisis can no longer be ignored".

Separately, environmental group Friends of the Earth said ministers rejected the government's defense of a legal challenge over Britain's approval in 2022 of its first new deep coal mine in decades. A court hearing on their legal challenge could continue next week unless West Cumbria Mining, which wants to develop the coal mine, also drops its defence.

The Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government sent a request for comment on the Lincolnshire oil project to the Planning Inspectorate, which declined to comment.