Whether Horse Hill’s oil extraction was legally permitted will be decided by the courts.
On climate change grounds, Sarah Finch is contesting the drilling of four oil wells. According to Surrey County Council, it conforms to planning law.
Ms Finch is suing Surrey County Council on the basis that when it granted planning approval, it failed to take certain climate implications of burning the oil into account. According to environmental lawyers, the precedent-setting case may impact projects across the country.
The greenhouse gas emissions produced when the oil is utilised are the ones that have an impact on the climate and are referred to as “downstream emissions.” According to Ms Finch, over a 20-year period, this is expected to produce 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
About one tonne of carbon dioxide is emitted by one airline passenger travelling back and forth from London to Boston, USA.
Planning authorities claim that just the effects of drilling should be considered when determining how burning oil will affect the climate. As Ms Finch, a campaigner with the neighbourhood group Weald Action Group, told BBC News, “It’s like saying a chocolate cake is low calorie as long as you don’t eat it.”
The planet’s temperature rises due to greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide trapping the sun’s heat inside the atmosphere.
A Surrey County Council official stated.”The County Council is required to determine planning applications in accordance with the Development Plan, the National Planning Policy Framework, national policy and other material considerations, as set out in legislation and case law. The Horse Hill planning application was determined on this basis.”
The High Court dismissed Ms Finch’s initial appeal. She took it to the Court of Appeals, where three judges were divided, with one supporting the appeal.
According to Friends of the Earth lawyer Katie de Kauwe, carbon emissions from these projects are “being vastly underestimated”.
She continued, “Developers are fighting court cases like this because they are very concerned that if decision-makers are confronted with the full carbon impacts of these projects, so with downstream emissions added, then they might think twice about granting them planning permission.”
Rowan Smith, the lawyer for Ms Finch, said: “It’s difficult to overstate the importance of this case.”
The UK government is legally committed to lowering its carbon emissions to reach net zero in 2050, meaning it will no longer add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
New fossil fuel projects, including Horse Hill, are allegedly breaking such pledges, according to activists like Friends of the Earth.
In the UK, new fossil fuel projects have sparked political controversy. Campaigners and academics agree that if the world hopes to achieve its climate goals, all oil and gas must be left in the ground. This includes the International Energy Agency.
According to government advisors in the Climate Change Committee, the best strategy to shield customers from high energy prices is to invest in renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuels.
The participation of outside organisations, which the court asked to give further evidence, emphasises the case’s importance to the nation.
They include West Cumbria Mining, the organisation in charge of a brand-new coal mine in Whitehaven, and the Office for Environmental Protection, which is making its first-ever case-specific intervention.
A private corporation like West Cumbria Mining making this type of action, according to Friends of the Earth attorney Katie de Kauwe, is quite uncommon.
The first new coal mine to be built in the UK in forty years will be opened by West Cumbria Mining in 2021 with authorization from the government.
Ms de Kauwe stated, “It is obvious that they are worried about the potential implications of the case on their coal mine.”
According to West Cumbria Mining, it is not appropriate to comment on an ongoing court matter; the company informed BBC News.
According to BBC News, the Office for Environmental Protection is interfering because it wants legislative clarification on how decision-makers undertake Environment Impact Assessments when evaluating fossil fuel projects.
On Wednesday, the 1.5-day hearing gets underway. It can take the judges three to six months to decide.
