Finch v Surrey County Council: Insights and Implications of Supreme Court Judgment

On 20th June, the Supreme Court handed down judgment in Finch v Surrey County Council, an appeal concerning downstream emissions of fossil fuel projects - one of the main climate change cases of 2024.
The significant case for environmental law and climate change turns on the correct interpretation of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017. The central issue is whether, when considering an application involving the commercial extraction of oil at the Horse Hill Well Site for production, the local planning authority should have required an assessment of the impact on the environment of ‘downstream’ greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the eventual use of the refined products of that oil.
Join the Cornerstone Barristers team, six of whom were instructed in this litigation, for their rapid reactions to this important judgment.