Climate Impact Assessment for Fossil Fuel Projects in the Era of Energy Transition
Friday 22 April 2022 14:00-15:00
Daria Shapovalova (Lecturer in Energy Law and the Co-Director of the Aberdeen University Centre for Energy Law)
The global regulatory efforts on climate change are centred on greenhouse gas emissions, and consequently fossil fuel consumption, thus focusing on demand while largely disregarding the supply side. The geographic origin of the burning of fossil fuels is irrelevant for its effects on global warming. However, the IPCC confirms that the estimate of the total fossil fuel reserves and resources contains sufficient carbon to yield, if released, radiative forcing above that required to limit global mean temperature change to less than 2°C. Thus, to achieve the global climate goals, some resources would need to stay in the ground, under the assumption that if produced, they would inevitably be used. While environmental impact assessment is a well-established regulatory mechanism, assessing climate impacts (widely defined) of fossil fuel projects before their authorisation is a new development. At the end of 2021, the UK Government consulted on the ‘Climate Compatibility Checkpoint’ for oil and gas licenses, which would establish climate-related criteria for new fossil fuel developments. The recent judicial practice however (Greenpeace Limited v The Advocate General [2021] CSIH 53 and R (Finch) v Surrey County Council [2021] PTSR 1160) is quite unequivocal on the limited inclusion of the wider climate impacts in the pre-authorisation assessments. This presentation will consider the fragmented legislative and policy framework for climate change mitigation and fossil fuels, focusing on the UK’s experience and the recent energy security concerns.