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LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - A Scottish court handed BP
a win over Greenpeace on Thursday after the environmental group
tried to void the energy company's licence to exploit a North
Sea oilfield, saying the climate impact of the end-use of oil
should not affect permits.
Greenpeace had said the emissions from the ultimate
consumption of the oil - rather than just the smaller amount of
emissions from the extraction process - should be the criterion
for granting a licence.
It also said there had been errors in the consultation
process preceding the granting of the permit.
UK regulators approved the 20,000 barrels per day Vorlich
field, off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland, in 2018 and it
started producing in late 2020.
Judge Colin Sutherland of Scotland's Court of Session in a
ruling on Thursday said Greenpeace had the opportunity to engage
in the process before the permit was granted.
"The question is whether the consumption of oil and gas by
the end user, once the oil and gas have been extracted from the
wells, transported, refined and sold to consumers, and then used
by them are 'direct or indirect significant effects of the
relevant project'. The answer is that it is not," the judge said
in his decision, seen by Reuters.
"It would not be practicable, in an assessment of the
environmental effects of a project for the extraction of fossil
fuels, for the decision maker to conduct a wide ranging
examination into the effects, local or global, of the use of
that fuel by the final consumer."
Typically permits are granted according to how
emissions-efficient the extraction process itself is.
Greenpeace said it would seek an appeal before the Supreme
Court of the United Kingdom.
"We will not give up the fight for the climate," Greenpeace
UK executive director John Sauven said in a statement.
BP's emissions from operating and powering assets such as
oilfields, known as Scope 1 and 2, were 54 million tonnes of CO2
equivalent last year, while those of the end-use of its
products, known as Scope 3, were 328 million tonnes.
BP has pledged to become a net zero company, including its
Scope 3 emissions, by 2050.
It had no immediate comment on Thursday's ruling, which
follows a series of legal actions brought by climate campaigners
that are increasingly turning to the courts to try cut fossil
fuel use. They have scored wins in cases against energy major
Royal Dutch Shell and governments such as
Germany.
(Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; editing by Barbara Lewis)
