The Government has conceded that oil and gas exploration in the Britain's North East Atlantic - the Atlantic Frontier - may harm whales and dolphins. The admission came in the High Court today where Greenpeace is taking the Government to court for failing to apply wildlife protection law up to 200 nautical miles from the coast.
In the Government's first affidavit, Claire Harding of the Department of Trade and Industry Oil and Gas Division, said, "I believe that the evidence put forward by the Applicants does not show that any harm has occurred or will in future occur to cetaceans as a result of any oil and gas activity, including seismic activity."
However, Ms Harding's evidence was later changed to show a clear alteration in the Government's position. The changed affidavit of Claire Harding, read to the Court today, states that, "I believe that the evidence put forward by the Applicants does not show that any harm has occurred or will in future occur to the conservation status of cetaceans as a result of any oil and gas activity, including seismic activity."
Peter Melchett, Executive Director of Greenpeace UK said, "the Government has clearly conceded that whales and dolphins could be harmed by oil and gas development in the North East Atlantic. We hear a good deal about "rights and responsibilities" from the Prime Minister, and yet the Government wants the right to drill for oil without the responsibilities of protecting the environment. It is vital that we protect Britain's whales and dolphins from uncontrolled oil and gas exploration."
In an affadavit read in court today, Peter Melchett stated that: "I consider the Government's evidence is aimed not just at the legality of the Habitat's Directive applying offshore to the marine environment, but at how best to circumvent its terms. We look to the Government to be even-handed and champion everyone's interest - that includes the interests of endangered species and habitats that are likely to go into decline without positive steps to preserve them for future generations. I believe the days when Governments can open up new 'frontiers' to industry (as the Atlantic Frontier is described by Government) without the need for strict environmental and conservation control are long gone.
This application seeks to protect those habitats and species that will be victims of a way of thinking about the environment that is outmoded.
"These are not trivial issues. The great whales are at once symbols of humanity's global capacity to drive entire species to the edge of extinction, and of humanity's more recently emerging ability to take global action to halt destruction, and even to reverse the process. The UK has a great responsibility in respect of whales in the Atlantic Frontier. That responsibility is not to mitigate further damage but actively to promote both the protection and restoration of these vulnerable jewels of the natural world.
There is no time left to 'wait and see' for those species that are on the edge of extinction. This has long been accepted by conservationists and the European community. I believe it must now be accepted by the UK Government who must provide the requisite level of protection and active conservation management as set out in the Habitat's Directive.
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Greenpeace Press Office on 020 7865 8255
