Greenpeace's legal challenge against the UK government's approval of new North Sea oil and gas drilling licences has been dismissed by London courts.
Arguing that ministers had failed to assess the greenhouse gases produced by consuming oil and gas, often referred to as downstream or end-use emissions, the environmental activist group claimed it made the plans unlawful.
However, Judge David Holgate ruled against Greenpeace, supporting lawyers representing the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero, who claimed that ministers weren't obligated to assess end-use emissions, although they did consider them.
Philip Evans, a campaigner at Greenpeace UK said: "This is completely irresponsible behaviour from ministers during a climate crisis."
"If you told most people that the government is allowed to approve new oil and gas while ignoring 80% of the emissions it would produce, they simply wouldn’t believe you.”
Greenpeace plans to appeal the decision.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has emphasised the importance of domestic oil and gas production to enhance Britain's energy security, adding that the activities remain within the country's net-zero target by 2050.
Despite environmental concerns, the government recently approved the development of the Rosebank oil field off the coast of Shetland.
Estimated to produce around 225 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, around half of UK emissions per year, over its operational span of two to three decades, the offshore site is expected to begin production in 2026/27.