Major North Sea oil and gas projects halted by a Supreme Court ruling will be able to reapply for consent after the Government published new environmental guidance.
The Supreme Court ruled last year that emissions created by burning fossil fuels should be considered when granting planning permission for new drilling sites, in a case that focused on an oil well in Surrey but reverberated through the energy sector.
A challenge brought by environmental campaigners in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, over approval for the Rosebank oil field north-west of Shetland and the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen, was upheld at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in January.
Greenpeace and Uplift had argued the UK Government and North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) had acted unlawfully when granting consent to the projects, as environmental impact assessments did not take into account downstream emissions resulting from the burning of the extracted fuels.
The Government has now published new guidance on how the environmental impacts of oil and gas – including their downstream “scope three” emissions created when the fossil fuels are burned – are included in assessments.
Officials said offshore developers will now be able to submit applications for consent to extract fossil fuels in oil and gas fields that are already licensed, which includes Rosebank and Jackdaw.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will “consider the significance of a project’s environmental impact, while taking into account and balancing relevant factors on a case-by-case basis – such as the potential economic impact and other implications of the project”, the Government said.
Labour has previously ruled out issuing new oil and gas licences for the North Sea, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the fuels will be needed for decades to come and indicated he would not “interfere” with existing licences.
But the green groups behind the legal challenge to the Rosebank and Jackdaw schemes said they were incompatible with the UK’s climate commitments to curb the greenhouse gas emissions driving rising temperatures and dangerous weather extremes.
The International Energy Agency has previously said no new fossil fuel projects should be developed beyond existing fields if the world is to stay below 1.5C of global warming, beyond which increasingly dangerous and irreversible impacts of climate change will be felt.
Energy minister Michael Shanks said: “This new guidance offers clarity on the way forward for the North Sea oil and gas industry, following last year’s Supreme Court ruling.
“It marks a step forward in ensuring the full implications of oil and gas extraction are considered for potential projects and that we ensure a managed, prosperous, and orderly transition to the North Sea’s clean energy future, in line with the science.
“We are working with industry, trade unions, local communities and environmental groups to ensure the North Sea and its workers are at the heart of Britain’s clean energy future for decades to come – supporting well-paid, skilled jobs, driving growth and boosting our energy security.”
The Government pointed to £200 million in funding for a project to capture and store carbon in Aberdeenshire and a pilot in Aberdeen, along with Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire, to help workers access jobs in new clean energy industries.
Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, said: “The new rules mean that oil and gas companies will finally be forced to come clean over the enormous harm they are causing to the climate.”
She argued Rosebank would not lower fuel bills or boost energy independence as most of the oil would be exported, and tax breaks would mean the public would cover most of the costs of development.
She also said the extreme weather the UK is experiencing “must be a wake-up call for this Government to stand up to the oil and gas firms”.
Greenpeace UK head of climate Mel Evans said: “It’s only right for the Government to take into account the emissions from burning oil and gas when deciding whether to approve fossil fuel projects currently pending.
“Since Rosebank and other drilling sites will pump out a lot of carbon while providing little benefit to the economy and no help to bill payers, they should fail the criteria ministers have just set out.
She said approving the projects would be a “political sleight of hand” that would benefit oil giants while leaving the UK hooked on fossil fuels.
“Real energy security and future-proofed jobs for energy workers can only come through homegrown, cheap renewable energy, and that’s what ministers should focus on,” she urged.
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