Oil and gasfields in doubt after Miliband refuses legal support

The future of two of the UK's most controversial oil and gas projects has been thrown into doubt after the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, withdrew government support for the companies in two legal cases brought by campaigners.

- Helena Horton , Jillian Ambrose

The Jackdaw gasfield, operated by Shell, was given approval in 2022, and Greenpeace applied for a judicial review shortly after the decision. Last year, the previous Conservative government gave the green light to Equinor-operated Rosebank, the UK's biggest untapped oilfield, against the recommendation of climate advisers. Greenpeace and Uplift demanded a judicial review, arguing that the approval was incompatible with the UK's legally binding climate commitments, and saying ministers' original analysis ignored the impact of burning oil from the site.

In June, the cases against the oil and gasfields received a boost when the Supreme Court ruled in a separate case that "scope 3" emissions - the burning of fossil fuels rather than just the building of the infrastructure to do so - should be taken into account when approving projects.