(Bloomberg) -- The Court of Session in Edinburgh has agreed to hear arguments brought by climate campaigners seeking to block the Rosebank oil and gas development in the North Sea on climate grounds.
Court hearings that pit Greenpeace UK and Uplift against oil companies including Norway’s Equinor ASA and Ithaca Energy Plc will begin on November 12, the activist group Uplift said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. The environmental groups argue that consent for the field - granted by the previous Conservative government - is illegal and should be revoked.
Rosebank has become a battleground for environmental groups in the UK after having received the go-ahead in September 2023. Uplift says burning the field’s oil and gas would produce 200 million tons of carbon dioxide. The court will also hear a challenge against the license for Shell Plc’s Jackdaw field.
The planned development, which lies in deep waters off the Shetland Islands, isn’t due to start pumping oil and gas until at least 2026.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.