judgment

Preston New Road Action Group v. Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Lancashire County Council, Cuadrilla Bowland Ltd., Cuadrilla Elswick Ltd. - judgment

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The UK Court of Appeal upheld the government's decision to permit natural gas exploration at two sites, rejecting claims that the government failed require sufficient cumulative impact analysis and should have considered the possible climate effects of any future natural gas production. 

In 2016 the UK Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government issued a decision allowing exploratory wells and associated monitoring to test the feasibility of the commercial extraction of shale gas at two sites in Lancashire.  The decision was challenged in an action that the Administrative Court dismissed.  In 2017, the Preston New Road Action Group and an individual named Gayzer Frackman both appealed the dismissal on different grounds; Frackman's appeal raised several climate-related issues. 

Frackman claimed, among other things, that the Secretary of State failed to follow Directive 2011/92/EU, which requires that an environmental impact assessment analyze indirect, secondary, and cumulative effects. Frackman argued that the Secretary had improperly failed to require an assessment of the effects of greenhouse gas emissions arising from the extended flow testing phase of the proposed project. The court disagreed, concluding that greenhouse gas emissions associated with exploration were fully assessed. Frackman also challenged the omission of any analysis of the indirect impacts of the succeeding production stage if the exploration proved the existence of a viable shale gas play. The court rejected this claim, reasoning that any possible future proposal would have to be considered on its own panning merits in light of a new environmental assessment. Finally, Frackman asserted that the Secretary was inconsistent in considering the potential benefits of natural gas in meeting the UK's planning goal of transitioning to a low-carbon future without assessing potential harms. The court dismissed this argument, concluding that the Secretary properly determined that shale gas exploration would help to achieve the objective of reducing carbon by establishing whether commercially viable natural gas existed on the sites in question.

The court dismissed both appeals in their entirety. 

Preston New Road Action Group v. Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Lancashire County Council, Cuadrilla Bowland Ltd., Cuadrilla Elswick Ltd.

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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.

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

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

A potent, short-lived greehouse gas, largely released from livestock, fossil fuel extraction and waste management.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Geohazards are adverse geological phenomenon's that are capable of causing widespread damage or loss to property, life and the environment, such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis. Climate change can increase the frequency and severity of some geohazards, such as landslides, and soil erosion.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Preston New Road Action Group v. Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Lancashire County Council, Cuadrilla Bowland Ltd., Cuadrilla Elswick Ltd. - judgment

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance