The Supreme Court has passed judgment that could have profound implications for new fossil fuel projects.

It ruled that Surrey County Council acted unlawfully by giving planning permission for oil production at Horse Hill in the Surrey countryside without considering the climate impacts of when the oil is inevitably burned.

The landmark judgment follows a legal challenge brought by former Surrey resident Sarah Finch, on behalf of the Weald Action Group. The case challenged Surrey County Council’s decision to grant planning permission for oil drilling at Horse Hill, near Gatwick airport in the Surrey countryside. Ms Finch argued that the environmental impact assessment carried out by Surrey County Council (which declared a climate emergency in 2019) should have considered the climate impacts that would inevitably arise from burning the extracted oil (Scope 3 emissions).

The ruling may have a significant impact on all new fossil fuel developments – including proposals for a controversial new coal mine in Cumbria and North Sea oil and gas projects.

Friends of the Earth, who has supported the case from the outset as an intervenor says that the Supreme Court ruling means that: “The judgment is very clear that the inevitability of the end-use emissions of this oil project meant they were indirect effects of the development, and so needed to be factored into EIA.”

---