Environmental Law, Public Duties, and Global Causation: Finch vs Surrey County Council [2024] UKSC 20 - A Panel Discussion by Counsel

The 3:2 decision of the UK Supreme Court in Finch v Surrey CC (20 June 2024) made a large shift in the interpretation of environmental impact and climate change assessment in public law. The case determined, in the context of fossil fuel development, that a local public authority, when considering the “direct and indirect significant effects of a project” on the climate as mandated by planning legislation, cannot confine its enquiries to local impact, but must look at the global and transboundary effects of those activities, looking beyond its own territorial jurisdiction. Hence when considering a licence for local oil extraction, the global impact of hydrocarbon export, consumption and ensuing greenhouse gas emissions must be considered, even if the proportionate impact on the local council territory might be slight. A major reserved judgment by Lord Leggatt delved deeply into the collective action problems of environmental change and the role of legal standards at different tiers of government in assessing environmental causation. A dissenting opinion of Lord Sales emphasised that local government could not be deciding matters better dealt with at the national and international level of policy.

This complex litigation involved representations and interventions from local and national government, local action groups, commercial actors, regulators, and various environmental lobby groups. Estelle Dehon KC, lead counsel for the successful Appellants, and Nina Pindham, junior counsel for one of the NGO Interveners, will analyse the case and explain the litigation strategies that led to victory of a local environmental group against late players of government and industry. They will also speak to the craft of the trial and appellate barrister in running complex public cases involving environmental duties. Students interested in public law and environmental practice are especially encouraged to attend.

Enquiries to Joshua Getzler, joshua.getzler@law.ox.ac.uk

Venue: Mordan Hall; entrance from Main Lodge, St Margaret's Road