Conservation

Historic win for the ocean: Rosebank oil plans quashed

A judge in Edinburgh has ruled that the 2023 decision to give the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas development plans the go-ahead was "unlawful" and failed to take into consideration the resultant carbon emissions of the extraction.

30/01/2025
Words by Rob Hutchins
Photography by Ben Wicks
Additional photography by Jason Mavrommatis

In what is now being celebrated as an ‘historic win for the ocean and for the world’, the decision to greenlight a giant new oilfield off Shetland has, this week, been ruled unlawful by the courts.

The proposed Rosebank development – the UK’s biggest untapped oilfield – had been given the go-ahead in 2023 under the previous government, granting consent to develop oil and gas fields across the Rosebank to the north west of Shetland and the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen. 

This week, however, a judge in Edinburgh has upheld a legal challenge levied by Greenpeace and Uplift against the decision. The environmental campaign groups argued the UK Government and North Sea Transition Authority (NTSA) had acted unlawfully when granting consent to the projects.

Upholding the argument, the courts have ruled that environmental impact assessments into the development of oil and gas fields in the Rosebank and Jackdaw at the time failed to take into account downstream emissions resulting from the burning of the extracted fossil fuels.

Hugo Tagholm, executive director and vice president at Oceana UK, has called the ruling an “historic moment” that “marks the start of a new path to clean energy and clean seas”. 

“Extreme marine heatwaves, destructive overfishing, and a toxic cocktail of pollutants are already ripping the heart out of UK seas, blighting our internationally important wildlife, from seabirds to seals,” he said in a statement posted to the Oceana UK website. “A major oilspill from Rosebank could have devastated no less than 16 UK marine protected areas. 

“This marks the end of lying to ourselves about the reality of the climate crisis and the deep harm to the ocean perpetrated by Big Oil.”

Plans to develop oil and gas on the Rosebank and Jackdaw have been ruled unlawful

The former Conservative-led UK government first approved Shell’s proposals to develop the Jackdaw field in 2022, and cleared Equinor and Ithaca Energy’s plans to drill in the Rosebank field in September 2023. 

In a judgement published on Thursday, Lord Ericht said the decision to grant this consent was unlawful, and ruled the consent should be ‘reduced’ and reconsidered.

In his published opinion, he said: “Having considered all the circumstances of the case and the various public and private interests, I have reached the conclusion that the balance lies in favour of granting reduction. The public interest in authorities acting lawfully and the private interest of members of the public in climate change outweigh the private interest of the developers.

“The factors advanced by Shell, Equinor and Ithaca in respect of their private interest do not justify the departure on equitable grounds from the normal remedy of reduction of an unlawful decision.”

The ruling has ordered the reduction be suspended pending the Secretary of State’s re-consideration of the matter, which he said would give companies ‘options’ on how to proceed in the interim. He added, however, that no oil or gas should be extracted before a new decision on consent is made.

“The government now has the chance to remake the decision after their oil and gas consultation concludes in the spring,” said a spokesperson from the campaign group, #StopRosebank. 

“Experts are clear, we can and must stop new oil and gas developments now to stay within ‘safe’ climate limits. But this mustn’t come at the expense of workers and communities that have relied on these industries for generations. 

“New fields like Rosebank won’t solve the decline of jobs in the North Sea. Over the past decade, the number of jobs supported by the oil and gas industry in the UK has more than halved, despite new fields being approved.

“In a declining basin, the way to create long-term secure jobs is to invest in a ‘just transition’ and support workers to transition into clean energy industries that have a future.”

In the wake of the ruling, Shell has called for swift action from the government as it seeks new consents, while Equinor has “welcomed the ruling” as a chance to continue with progressing the Rosebank project while waiting for new consents. 

A spokesperson from the Department for Energy Security and New Zero, said: “The government has already consulted on revised environmental guidance to take into account emissions from burning extracted oil and gas to provide stability for industry, support investment, protect jobs, and deliver economic growth.”

#StopRosebank concluded their statement with a call to action.

“Today has been a massive step forward towards a sustainable fossil-free future for all. The next months will set the course for the UK’s energy future. Let’s make sure it’s a future we can be proud of.”

Click here for more from the Oceanographic Newsroom.

Words by Rob Hutchins
Photography by Ben Wicks
Additional photography by Jason Mavrommatis

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