Lord Ericht has reduced the decisions of the North Sea Transition Authority (the NSTA) and the Secretary of State for the Environment to grant consent under the EIA regulations for oil and gas developments at the Rosebank Field (west of Shetland) and the Jackdaw field (in the North Sea). Terra Firma's Fergus Colquhoun appeared for one of the petitioners, Uplift, with involvement from fellow TFC member James Findlay KC at an earlier stage. 

Jackdaw and Rosebank are offshore oil and gas fields, which were granted consent under the EIA regulations in 2022 and 2023 respectively. In assessing the environmental impact of the proposed developments, the Secretary of State considered the greenhouse gas emissions which would be produced by extracting the oil and gas from the sea-floor, but not the downstream emissions caused by using the extracted hydrocarbons ('Scope 3 emissions'). In August 2024, in the case of Finch v Surrey County Council, the Supreme Court held that that approach was flawed. In order to properly carry out an EIA, an assessment of Scope 3 emissions is required.

As a result of the Supreme Court's decision in Finch, all parties were agreed that the EIA consents granted for the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields were unlawful. The petitioners sought to have the consents reduced, but it was argued by the developers that it would be disproportionate to reduce the consents, in view of the quantity of work already undertaken on site. Lord Ericht agreed that the consents should be reduced, but suspended the effect of that reduction until the Secretary of State has made a fresh decision.