Climate activists will be told whether a case for the UK to scrap the latest North Sea oil and gas licensing round can proceed in Britain’s High Court on Tuesday.
Greenpeace will hear whether it can proceed in challenging the government’s decision to run the 33rd oil and gas licensing round, which closed on January 12 with applications from the likes of Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) and BP PLC (LSE:BP.).
"We’ve had warning after warning that there must be no new oil, and now time is running out,” campaigner Philip Evans said.
Some 115 bids were submitted from 76 different companies for new licenses to drill in the North Sea, despite windfall taxes of 35% pushing the total up to 75% of profits.
Greenpeace argued the government should “properly tax” oil firms though, referencing breaks of up to 91% which can be accessed through reinvestment in North Sea developments.
Activists accused the government of flawed decision making too, arguing a proper assessment of the climate impacts were not carried out before bidding was launched.
“Why is the Government hell bent on approving new licences?” Evans added, “it begs the question of whose interests they really serve”.
A government spokesperson responded that “the transition to non-fossil forms of energy cannot happen overnight," with the North Sea Transition Authority still set to announce the winners of the round in the second quarter of this year.
Calls from Greenpeace echoed those from MPs from the Environmental Audit Committee, which urged the government to follow the likes of Denmark in banning new oil and gas licences.