Environmental organization Greenpeace has launched legal action against the UK government to stop more than 100 new licenses to explore for oil and gas in the North Sea.
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The UK government introduced a fracking ban in November 2019 due to the risk of seismic activity. After coming to power, Liz Truss announced the lifting of the moratorium on shale gas fracking and the intention to issue more than 100 licenses for the extraction of gas and oil in the North Sea to overcome the energy crisis in the country.
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Greenpeace has applied to the UK High Court for judicial review of the British government’s decision to issue new licenses. The report notes that two climate protection organizations, Friends of the Earth and Uplift, also sent a letter to British Energy Secretary Grant Shapps urging him to reverse the “illegal” decision made by his predecessor, Jacob Rees-Mogg. The British government declined to comment on the information about the launched legal procedure, but emphasized the importance of maintaining energy security by increasing the supply of its own energy.
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At the end of October, speaking to Parliament for the first time as the new British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak said he was sticking to the promises in the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto that fracking was banned, but after these words, the British government did not take concrete steps. Truss did not accept to cancel the decision.
