Oil production project should have taken account of downstream emissions

Surrey County Council breached planning law when it granted permission for an oil production facility without assessing the emissions that will arise from the fuel’s use, the Supreme Court ruled today (20 June). The case clarifies the rule on environmental impact assessments that developers are obliged to carry out before proceeding with projects that are likely to have significant effects on the environment. It means that so-called “downstream” emissions as well as direct emissions should be assessed. It centred on an oil production facility at Horse Hill near Horley in Surrey. The developer applied to the council to expand the site over 25 years. According to the ruling, handed down today, more than 3m tonnes of oil could be extracted during that period. Surrey County Council initially decided that the EIA should take into account the impact of burning of the fuel extracted from the site – the downstream impacts. The council later changed its mind and stipulated that only the impact of the greenhouse gasses released at the project site should be considered. This restriction was a mistake in law, the Supreme Court ruled by a three-to-two majority. Lord Justice Leggatt, who wrote the main ruling, said it was “plain” that the downstream emissions are an effect of the project, and so should be assessed by the EIA. “Anyone interested in the future of our planet is aware by now of the impact on its climate of burning fossil fuels – chiefly oil, coal and gas,” he said in the ruling. “It is agreed that the project under consideration involves the extraction of oil for commercial purposes for a period estimated at 20 years in quantities sufficient to make an EIA mandatory. “It is also agreed that it is not merely likely but inevitable that the oil extracted will be sent to refineries and that the refined oil will eventually undergo combustion, which will produce GHG emissions. It is not disputed that these emissions, which can easily be quantified, will have a significant impact on climate. “The only issue is whether the combustion emissions are effects of the project at all. It seems to me plain that they are.” The case was brought by law firm Leigh Day with Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace involved as interveners. R (on the application of Finch) v Surrey County Council [2024] UKSC 20; [2024] PLSCS 114 Supreme Court (Lord Kitchin, Lord Sales, Lord Leggatt, Lord Rose, Lord Richards) 20 June 2024 Photo © James Veysey/Shutterstock