Rosebank oil field consent overturned in Scotland

Scotland’s Court of Session has ruled that the 2023 approval of the Rosebank oil field cannot go ahead, as it did not account for the Scope 3 emissions that would be caused by burning the field’s oil.

The judge has ordered that the approval now be overturned (‘reduced’), meaning it is no longer legally valid, in line with claims by campaign groups Uplift and Greenpeace UK. 

If Rosebank’s owners - Equinor and Ithaca Energy - still wish to move ahead with the project, they must now resubmit a new Environmental Impact Assessment to the UK Government, which accounts for the field’s Scope 3 emissions.

The Honourable Lord Ericht’s ruling states that ‘the private interest of members of the public in climate change outweigh the private interest of the developers’. The decision acknowledges that the effect of burning fossil fuels on climate change and the lives of individual persons is now well recognised in law.

In October 2023, Uplift and Greenpeace filed separate cases against the approval of the Rosebank oil field under the previous Conservative government. While the cases are separate, they have been heard together by the Scottish Court of Session. 

The court also suspended its reduction order, pending a new decision on the field. This means that Rosebank’s owners can continue preparatory work on the project, but no oil nor gas may be extracted. 

Equinor has explained the prospective work includes submitting a downstream end-user combustion emissions (Scope 3) assessment in compliance with the government’s new environmental guidance this spring.