The London High Court has ruled that 28 oil and gas exploration licenses granted by the British government in May 2024 are lawful, rejecting a lawsuit brought by environmental groups. Campaigners argued that the decision did not adequately assess the impact on climate change.
Oceana UK, the marine conservation organization that filed the lawsuit, argued that the risks to marine life posed by the licenses, approved under the previous government, were not properly examined.
The UK Department for Energy, defending itself in the High Court, stated that the licenses only permit early-stage exploration and that additional environmental assessments will be mandatory before oil or gas production begins.
The ministry had chosen not to defend similar cases following a Supreme Court ruling in 2024. The case heard in March was the latest example of environmental movements’ tendency to pursue legal avenues against fossil fuel projects. However, the court’s decision shows that the outcomes of these initiatives remain “complex and unpredictable.”
