UK offshore oil and gas  strategic assessment of climate effects

ClientEarth has written to the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy expressing concern over delays in the Strategic Environmental Assessment (OESEA4) for offshore energy. The organization argues that current government plans to extract all economic oil and gas are inconsistent with the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C goal and IEA pathways to net zero. ClientEarth warns that failing to conduct a legally adequate assessment, including downstream emissions, may lead to judicial review.

• ClientEarth identifies a risk of significant delay in the conclusion of the new Strategic Environmental Assessment (OESEA4), noting that the government has not yet published a response to the scoping consultation that ended on 7 May 2021.
• The document cites the UNEP Production Gap Report 2021, which states that current global extraction plans are consistent with warming of nearly 3°C or higher, and notes that the UK government intends to "extract every drop of oil and gas that it is economic to extract" without production wind-down plans.
• The International Energy Agency (IEA) 'Net Zero by 2050' roadmap and the World Energy Outlook 2021 indicate that no new oil and gas fields should be approved for development to meet global net zero pathways.
• ClientEarth asserts that any legal assessment of offshore oil and gas must include downstream emissions and impacts from extraction under existing licences that are not yet consented, threatening judicial review if these are omitted.

APA

ClientEarth (2021). UK offshore oil and gas  strategic assessment of climate effects. https://www.clientearth.org/media/dt3l3njw/clientearth-letter-to-sos-beis-re-oesea4-291021.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. UK offshore oil and gas  strategic assessment of climate effects. 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/dt3l3njw/clientearth-letter-to-sos-beis-re-oesea4-291021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=UK offshore oil and gas  strategic assessment of climate effects |date=29 October 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/dt3l3njw/clientearth-letter-to-sos-beis-re-oesea4-291021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2021offshore, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{UK offshore oil and gas  strategic assessment of climate effects}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/dt3l3njw/clientearth-letter-to-sos-beis-re-oesea4-291021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }