CLIMATE campaigners celebrated today after the government said it would not defend the decision to green-light the development of two oil and gas fields in the North Sea.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) granted consent in 2023 for Equinor and Ithaca Energy to begin developing the Rosebank oil field in 2023 and in 2022 for Shell to develop the Jackdaw gas field.

Greenpeace and Uplift have mounted judicial reviews in the Scottish courts, arguing that the authority’s consideration of environmental impact assessments had unlawfully failed to take into account the emissions produced by the burning of fuels sold to another country.