Greenpeace threatens legal action over drilling

Protesters spent 48 hours on the rig, stopping drilling for two days

Environmental campaigners have threatened the government with legal action over drilling for oil in UK waters after taking over an oil rig in the Arctic to protest against deep-sea drilling.

Lawyers for Greenpeace have written to the government calling on it to stop licensing new offshore oil exploration and production and to consult on a new full environmental assessment of deep-water drilling.

John Sauven, Greenpeace executive director, said: “For the government to carry on licensing for new offshore drilling without a new environmental assessment is in breach of European and UK environmental law and is irrational.”

If the government does not give an undertaking within 14 days that it will stop the licensing and consult on an environmental assessment, Greenpeace said it will apply for a judicial review.

The threat of legal action came after four Greenpeace climbers spent nearly 48 hours on an Arctic  oil rig operated by Scottish company Cairn Energy. Greenpeace said it hopes the protest on the rig, which stopped drilling for two days, will mean Cairn Energy will struggle to meet the deadline to complete exploration in the area off Greenland before winter ice conditions force an end to work until next year.

Sauven said that the Cairn Energy protest was the start of a long campaign of action. “The Gulf of Mexico disaster was a game changer so ministers should suspend new deep-water licences and companies  must stop dangerous drilling in the Arctic and start investing in clean alternatives instead,” he said.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “We are carefully considering the points made by Greenpeace. However, we believe we have a robust regulatory regime.”