Labour Could Save Its Green Reputation, But Will It?
No party can fulfill its pledges all at once, but Keir Starmer’s government should try staying out of its own way more. That includes decisions on fossil-fuel production in the North Sea.
Drawing a line in the sand.
Photographer: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images EuropeTwo new oil and gas fields off the coast of Scotland were dealt a serious blow on Thursday after the Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled that the government acted unlawfully when it approved them.
The judgement found that the original decisions in 2023 and 2022 by the previous Conservative government to give Equinor ASA and Ithaca Energy Plc’s Rosebank and Shell Plc’s Jackdaw the go-ahead to start producing fossil fuels failed to consider the carbon emissions that would result from burning the oil and gas dragged from under the North Sea. This, as ruled in a similar case against an oil well project in Surrey, is a failure to comply with environmental impact assessment regulations.