UK faces legal action for new North Sea oil and Gas Licences

A marine conservation group is challenging in court the decision of Britain to issue new oil and natural gas exploration licenses. The organization claims that ministers failed to take into account the impact of these licences on marine life.

Oceana UK has filed a lawsuit against 31 licenses granted by the previous British government to the North Sea Transition Authority in May of this year, as part of its latest round for oil and gas licensing.

A licence for exploration does not always lead to a producing field. However, environmental groups claim that the expansion of oil and natural gas production is incompatible with the government’s goal to achieve a carbon-neutral economy by 2050.

Oceana, along with other members of the Ocean Alliance Against Offshore Drilling (OAOD), wrote this week to Britain's Energy Minister Ed Miliband to ask him to accept Oceana's lawsuit.

By conceding the case the government could make good on the promises made to public and signal a distinct departure from the continued reliance of the previous administration on fossil fuels," the authors wrote.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in Britain declined to comment.

Oceana's lawsuit is the latest in a series of challenges over fossil fuels. Campaigners are increasingly turning to the law, but with mixed results, to force governments into action more quickly to reduce emissions.

(source: Reuters)