THE High Court has given the go-ahead for a legal challenge to government support for North Sea oil and gas — a case that could spell the end for production that relies on generous public subsidies.

Environmental campaigners are seeking a declaration from the court that the state-owned Oil and Gas Authority’s (OGA) new strategy is unlawful because it encourages uneconomic production and conflicts with Britain’s legal duty to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

A High Court order this week found that claimants had “presented an arguable case … in the public interest” and that the claim has sufficient merit to proceed.

The case is being brought on behalf of the Paid to Pollute campaign: a coalition including Greenpeace UK, Friends of the Earth Scotland, 350.org, the UK Student Climate Network and Fridays for Future Scotland.

Activists say a policy shift towards a just transition — moving away from fossil fuels in a way that is equitable for workers — is urgently needed. 

Claimant Kairin van Sweeden, the daughter of an oil worker, called for the funnelling of public money towards polluters to be fiercely rejected.

“The UK government repeatedly puts the interests of oil industry capital above the labour that creates it and, in fact, above all of our collective wellbeing as residents of the planet,” she said.

The judicial review revolves around the tax breaks that make Britain the most profitable country in the world for oil companies to develop offshore fields. 

The claimants argue that the OGA’s interpretation of its legal duty to “maximise economic recovery” of oil and gas fails to take account of the billions of pounds of public funding involved.

Since signing the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015, the government has handed £3.2 billion in subsidies and reduced tax rates to oil and gas companies.

Activist and claimant Mikaela Loach said: “Instead of using public money to prop up the oil and gas industry, the UK should be funding a just transition that retrains workers and builds the low-carbon industries of the future.”

The OGA and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy now have until the end of August to submit their defence, with the case expected to be heard before the end of the year. 

A spokesman for the OGA said it was disappointed in the legal challenge and that the OGA remains firmly committed to its strategy, which includes mechanisms to hold companies to account.