Clifford Chance

Will downstream scope 3 emissions have to be considered for all major projects? The UK Supreme Court decision in Finch

27 June 2024

In a landmark judgment, for the first time the UK Supreme Court has decided that, when assessing the environmental impacts of an oil extraction project, the planning authority should have considered the downstream (scope 3) emissions generated by the oil products from the project.

This could have significant ramifications for the consenting of fossil fuel and other energy & infrastructure projects, and potentially other industrial projects, where there are major carbon emissions in the project’s downstream value chain. This briefing considers the court’s decision in Finch and its potential implications for business.

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