The UK government will not defend Equinor’s Rosebank oil field in court.

The newly elected UK government has announced that it will not defend the last government’s decision to approve the Rosebank oil field, which Equinor and its partner Ithaca Energy is seeking to develop off the coast of Scotland in the UK. Rosebank is the biggest undeveloped oil field in the UK.

The climate organisations Uplift and Greenpeace UK have both filed legal challenges against the approval of Rosebank, which was granted by the previous UK government in September 2023. The announcement by the UK government is a massive win for everyone fighting to stop Rosebank and Equinor’s oil expansion.

The UK government’s announcement comes after a historic legal victory in the UK where the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Sarah Finch and the Weald Action Group in their fight against oil drilling plans in Surrey in the south-east of the country. The court found that the authorities should have considered the emissions created when the oil is burned when approving the field. This decision will have huge implications for any new fossil fuel projects in the UK and beyond.

Read more about the Finch case here.

Equinor can choose to defend the case in court  

It’s not yet clear if Equinor or the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), the regulator that signed off Rosebank’s approval, will defend the case or not. If they do, the legal challenge will still move through the Scottish courts.

Either way it is clear that the government’s concession makes it more likely that the decision to approve the field will be declared unlawful and need to be remade.

Rosebank would be a climate disaster

The Rosebank oil field would produce as much CO2 emissions as the world’s 28 low-income countries do in a year, combined. It would do nothing to lower energy bills for UK households or boost UK energy security. It’s also been estimated that a major oil spill from the field could impact 16 marine protected areas.

Read more about the Rosebank oil field here.

Equinor has faced huge opposition both in the UK and in Norway for its plans to develop Rosebank. In addition to the impacts on nature and climate, Equinor’s partner on the field has sparked a lot of controversy. Ithaca Energy, which controls 20% of the field, is majority-owned by Delek Group, which since 2020 has been listed on a UN database of companies operating in illegal Israeli settlements. Delek Group also sells fuel to the Israeli military. If Rosebank is developed, more than 600 million USD could flow to Delek Group.

Read more about Rosebank’s impact on human rights and international law here.

Support the court case

Here are three ways that you can support the court case:

• Add your name to the court case
• Share the news about the UK government’s decision by reharing posts by Greenpeace UK and Stop Rosebank.
• Join the campaign to #StopRosebank, find out more here.