More hopeful climate litigation news! 👏 The marine conservation group, Oceana UK, has launched a legal challenge against the UK government. The group claims the issuance of North Sea oil and gas licences was unlawful as it failed to consider environmental impacts. The legal action targets the decision by the Secretary of State for Energy Security, Claire Coutinho, and the North Sea Transition Authority to issue 82 licences between October 2023 and May 2024. 🚨
Oceana UK argues that the government ignored advice from independent experts regarding the potential effects on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Notably, a third of the licensed areas overlap with MPAs. Oceana asserts that the assessments provided by the government agency did not align with the independent experts' advice, thus breaching the law.
Hugo Tagholm, Executive Director of Oceana UK, showed that the government’s actions were a deliberate choice to ignore expert advice, jeopardising marine environments, climate, and future sustainability.
This legal action follows a similar case last year when Greenpeace lost a challenge against the government’s oil and gas licences. The court then ruled in favour of the government, stating it was not obligated to assess greenhouse gas emissions from the consumption of oil and gas. Insane right? 🤡
Rowan Smith, a solicitor from Leigh Day representing Oceana, expressed hope that the government would reconsider defending the legal claim. However, Oceana is prepared to pursue the case if necessary. Let's hope that the new Supreme Court ruling will also support their case!
