Britain Reverses Oil Drilling Approval After Landmark Climate Ruling

Britain has reversed its decision to permit an oil drilling operation and dropped its defence to a legal challenge over a new coal mine after a Supreme Court ruling on fossil fuel projects. The ruling mandates planning authorities to consider the climate impact of burning fossil fuels.

Britain has reversed its decision to permit an oil drilling operation and has abandoned its defence in a legal battle over a new coal mine, campaigners reported on Thursday. This comes after a landmark Supreme Court ruling concerning fossil fuel projects.

In a significant judgment last month, Britain's highest court mandated that planning authorities must account for the climate impact of burning fossil fuels, not just their extraction, in their approval decisions. This ruling could have widespread implications for future fossil fuel projects across the country.

Law firm Leigh Day announced that former Conservative government ministers agreed to quash a 2023 decision allowing oil drilling in Lincolnshire, Eastern England, on July 4—the same day a national election brought Labour into power. The court order from Judge Judith Farbey dictated that the project's permission would be reconsidered in light of the Supreme Court's decision.

Mathilda Dennis, a campaigner with SOS Biscathorpe who challenged the project legally, noted the undeniable link between fossil fuel extraction and the climate crisis. Separately, Friends of the Earth stated that the government dropped its defence against a legal challenge related to Britain's 2022 approval of its first new deep coal mine in decades.

The hearing may still proceed next week unless West Cumbria Mining, the company behind the coal mine, also withdraws its defence. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government directed inquiries about the Lincolnshire project to the Planning Inspectorate, which declined to comment. Egdon Resources, the operator of the Lincolnshire oil project, and West Cumbria Mining have yet to respond to requests for comment.

(With inputs from agencies.)