The court came to the conclusion that planning applications for new extraction projects must take into account the environmental effects of burning fossil fuel pollutants, not merely the emissions generated during the extraction process.
The Surrey County Council’s 2019 approval of an oil drilling project at Horse Hill served as the case’s focal point.
Local activist Sarah Finch contended that the project’s environmental effects should have considered the effects of burning the oil as well as the carbon emissions produced during the oil’s extraction.
She had already lost a lawsuit in the High Court, so she contested a previous Court of Appeal decision that had dismissed her case.
However, the Supreme Court’s judges invalidated the decision to award planning permission for the site on Thursday, voting three to two in favor of accepting her appeal.
Following the decision, Ms. Finch, a former resident of Surrey, expressed her happiness, calling it a “welcome step towards a safer, fairer future.”
“In my view, there was no basis on which the council could reasonably decide that it was not necessary to assess the combustion emissions,” Lord Leggatt said in his ruling.
