On 20 June, the supreme court in London set a powerful precedent affecting all future fossil fuel projects in the UK: it quashed Surrey county council’s decision to grant planning permission for 20 years of oil drilling at Horse Hill in Surrey, England.
The court ruled that the council had breached environmental law because it had not taken into consideration the greenhouse gas emissions that would come from burning the oil (probably for transport).
Up till now, only the carbon emissions of extracting oil, gas or coal had to be considered.
The case starting in 2019 had been taken by Sarah Finch, a member of Weald Action Group, .
Three weeks after the Finch decision, on 11 July, Angela Rayner, the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, admitted that a new coal mine in Cumbria, England, was permitted unlawfully in 2022.
The same day, Rayner and oil company Egdon Resources Ltd accepted that planning permission for an oil development at Biscathorpe in Lincolnshire, England, was unlawful. The plans had been challenged by another environmental group, SOS Biscathorpe.
The costs of the high court and court of appeal stages of Sarah Finch’s legal action were covered by local residents and campaigners, charities, parish councils and other local organisations, and supporters from across the country.
The legal and court costs of the appeal to the supreme court were covered by the Law For Change Fund (launched in 2023).
Sarah Finch was represented in court by Marc Willers KC of Garden Court Chambers and by Estelle Dehon KC and Ruchi Parekh from Cornerstone Chambers. Her solicitors were Rowan Smith and Julia Eriksen at Leigh Day.
Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace were also represented in court as ‘interveners’.