British government will not defend itself against lawsuit against Rosebank oil field

The British government will not oppose a legal challenge to the decision to authorise drilling in undeveloped oil fields off the Shetland Islands and Aberdeen.

Greenpeace and Uplift have jointly launched judicial reviews to stop the development of the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields.

The Supreme Court had previously ruled that a British council should have taken into account the climate impacts of new oil wells – setting a precedent for all regulators.

This litigation does not mean that Jackdaw and Rosebank's licenses have been revoked.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: “We will move swiftly to discuss new policies that take into account the Supreme Court ruling on environmental impact assessments to give industry freedom to plan, protect jobs and invest in our economy.”

The British government plans to discuss later this year its manifesto-based position not to issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields.

Environmental groups welcomed the government's decision.

Greenpeace said the licenses should not have been granted without their impact on the climate being “properly assessed.”

Mel Evans, head of Greenpeace UK's climate team, said: “Admitting these cases is the logical next step following the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.

“The combination of the two new fields would generate enormous amounts of emissions while doing nothing to reduce energy costs.

“The only real winners if they were given the green light would be the billion-dollar oil giants.”

The Supreme Court ruled in June that the way fossil fuels are used – so-called Scope 3 emissions – must be taken into account when conducting environmental impact assessments.

The decision could still be challenged by oil companies.

Industry association Offshore Energies UK called on the government to conduct its consultations “swiftly” and warned that the uncertainty would “further undermine investor confidence”.

A spokesman added: “We remain absolutely committed to our activities in the North Sea to meet the UK's net zero ambitions and support energy security.”

The British government promised that oil and gas would play an important role in the economy “for decades to come” as the country transitioned to clean energy.

Rosebank, off the coast of the Shetland Islands, is Britain's largest undeveloped oil field and was granted approval in September last year.

Scotland's then First Minister Humza Yousaf expressed his “disappointment” at the decision and accused Downing Street of denying climate change.

Shell's proposals to develop Jackdaw east of Aberdeen were approved in 2022 after initially being rejected on environmental grounds.

A spokesman for the energy giant said it would carefully examine the implications of the government's announcement.

They added: “We believe the Jackdaw field continues to be an important development for the UK, providing fuel to heat 1.4 million homes and contributing to energy security as other older gas fields reach the end of production.”

The Scottish Government reiterated in its draft energy strategy published last year that it was “opposed” to any new oil and gas exploration.

But First Minister John Swinney said in June that North Sea oil and gas would still be needed “for some time” to help the country meet its net-zero emissions target by 2045.