Jackdaw and rosebank - good news30 Jan 2025 10:45
Rosebank and Jackdaw ruling
Outlining the judgement on Thursday, Lord Ericht said the decision to grant consent was unlawful and ruled the operators will have to resubmit EIAs for the project.
The judge suspended the ruling pending the energy secretary’s re-consideration of the matter, which he said would give Equinor, Ithaca Energy and Shell “options” on how to proceed in the interim.
However, he said no oil or gas should be extracted before a new decision on consent is made.
In the published opinion, Lord Ericht said there was a public interest in having the project approvals “remade on a lawful basis” because of the effects of climate change.
“The effect of the burning of fossil fuels on climate change and the lives of individual persons is now well recognised in law,” he added.
The judgement stated: : “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.