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Rosebank Oilfield Go-Ahead Decision Ruled Unlawful by Edinburgh Court

January 30, 2025 | Source: The Guardian | by Matthew Taylor

The decision to greenlight a giant new oilfield off Shetland has been ruled unlawful by the courts, in a major win for climate action that scientists say is urgently needed.

The proposed Rosebank development – the UK’s biggest untapped oilfield – had been given the go-ahead in 2023 under the previous government.

But on Thursday the court of session in Edinburgh sided with campaigners and climate experts in ruling that the original decisions to permit Rosebank and a second, smaller, gas field called Jackdaw were unlawful, as they had not taken into account the carbon emissions created by burning any oil and gas produced.

Tessa Khan, from the campaign group Uplift which has been at the forefront of the campaign to stop Rosebank, said the court ruling was a significant milestone. “This … means that Rosebank cannot go ahead without accounting for its enormous climate harm,” she said.