Downstream from Finch: implications of Finch for EIAs post Supreme Court judgment

Overview

On 20 June 2024, the Supreme Court handed down judgment in the case of R (Finch) v Surrey County Council [2024] UKSC 20. The case concerns the Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") which preceded the grant of planning permission for oil extraction in Surrey. By a majority (Lord Leggatt, Lord Kitchin and Lady Rose), the Court held that the local authority's EIA was unlawful because it did not assess the environmental impacts of the Greenhouse Gas emissions arising from the combustion of the extracted oil once refined and used as fuel.