Stop this egregious project: Fossil Free London ‘dies in’ over Rosebank

Climate crisis activists from Fossil Free London ‘died in’ at the UK parliament over the upcoming legal challenge against the controversial and planet-wrecking Rosebank oil field project.

As the Canary previously reported, a court in Scotland has given the green-light for legal challenges against the climate-wrecking Rosebank oilfield project in the North Sea.

The decision potentially paves the way to ending the project for good. Now, campaign groups Uplift and Greenpeace UK are gearing up to take on the fossil fuel titans still trying to force the destructive project through the courts.

Rosebank judicial reviews

Campaigners have previously estimated that the enormous Rosebank project – situated off the coast of Shetland in the North Sea – will produce over 500m barrels of oil over its lifetime. This would equate to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of the 28 lowest-income countries combined.

In September 2023, the UK’s oil and gas regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), granted the license for Equinor and Ithaca Energy to develop the notorious Rosebank oil and gas field.

So, in December 2023, Greenpeace and campaign group Uplift launched judicial reviews against the government over Rosebank. Crucially, this sought to overturn the government’s decision to greenlight the Rosebank project.

Now, the Court of Session in Edinburgh has given them the go-ahead.

A die-in for the climate crisis’s victims

So, at 8am on Friday 8 November, campaigners in red dresses staged a ‘die in’ outside the Houses of Parliament in advance of the court case, brought by Greenpeace and Uplift, to challenge the approval of the proposed Rosebank oil field, being heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, 12 – 15 November.

Placards read “Dying for Labour to Stop Rosebank” and ”Stop new North Sea oil”:

Activists then died in:

Campaigner with Fossil Free London , Joanna Warrington said:

In the wake of hundreds of dead in Valencia and the devastation caused by Hurricane Milton, this UK government must stop this egregious, massive oil field or it has totally lost touch with reality.

Allowing Equinor to exploit this field would not only ignite more fossil fuels, but set ablaze every person’s basic hope of a secure future. If this government allows Rosebank to be drilled, it would leave an oily black stain on the UK’s environmental legacy; one that could never be erased.

Featured image and additional images via Fossil Free London