The Supreme Court has ruled that Surrey County Council should have considered the climate impacts of burning oil drilled from new wells in Horley.
The case brought by Sarah Finch, on behalf of campaigners, could threaten new UK fossil fuels projects.Today’s judgement relates to the Horse Hill oil well in Surrey. The site was given planning permission to expand its operations in 2019, a decision that was challenged by a local resident, Sarah Finch, on behalf of Weald Action Group.
The six wells at Horse Hill are expected to produce 3.3 million tonnes of crude oil over the next 20 years. Burning that oil would produce over 10 million tonnes of CO2 the environmental campaigning organisation Friends of the Earth has estimated.Sarah Finch first took her legal challenge against the site to the High Court in 2020