Following the UK government’s approval of the Jackdaw (2022) and Rosebank (2023) offshore fossil fuel developments, environmental NGOs Uplift and Greenpeace brought judicial review proceedings in the Court of Session in Edinburgh in December 2023. The claimants challenged the legality of the decisions, arguing that the approvals failed to consider the full climate impacts of the projects, in particular the downstream (Scope 3) emissions resulting from the eventual combustion of extracted oil and gas.

In August 2024, the UK government conceded that the original decision was unlawful in light of the UK Supreme Court’s Finch v Surrey County Council ruling, which clarified that environmental impact assessments (EIAs) must account for downstream emissions. The cases proceeded on whether the consents should be quashed or left in place pending further review.

Main Legal Issues:
	1.	Omission of Downstream Emissions: The environmental assessments for both projects had excluded Scope 3 emissions. The applicants argued this violated legal obligations under domestic and EU-derived environmental law.
	2.	Lack of Transparency: The NSTA failed to provide adequate reasons for concluding that the Rosebank development passed the “net zero” test.
	3.	Marine Environmental Impacts: In the Rosebank case, the applicants further alleged that the approval failed to properly assess the project’s impact on the Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt Marine Protected Area.

On January 30, 2025, Lord Ericht ruled that the development consents for both Rosebank and Jackdaw were unlawful due to the failure to consider downstream emissions. Citing Finch, the court held that the environmental assessments must account for the climate impact of burning fossil fuels extracted by the projects. The consents were overturned. The ruling emphasized that the “public interest in authorities acting lawfully and the private interest of members of the public in climate change outweigh the private interest of the developers.” While preparatory work on the fields may continue, no extraction can occur unless and until new, lawful approvals are issued under updated guidance.

Outcome:
	•	Approval for both the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields quashed.
	•	Government must reassess the projects under new environmental guidance accounting for downstream emissions.
	•	Development cannot proceed without new consents based on a full environmental impact assessment.
	•	The decision sets a precedent for integrating climate impacts into all future UK fossil fuel project assessments.

Current status: 
Following the UK government’s publication, in June 2025, of supplementary guidance for assessing the effects of downstream scope 3 emissions on climate from offshore oil and gas projects, the Rosebank and Jackdaw developers submitted (in September 2025) new Environmental Statements, including downstream emissions. Public notices have been issued of a public consultation on the developments, closing on 20 November 2025. The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero will then have to decide whether or not to grant consent to the projects.

Greenpeace UK and Uplift v. Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and the North Sea Transition Authority

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives