Guyana
In December 2024, two Guyanese citizens filed a judicial review action against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to include Scope 3 emissions in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for ExxonMobil's Hammerhead oil project. Scope 3 emissions refer to indirect greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the end use of fossil fuels; in this case, the oil produced and flared elsewhere.
The plaintiffs challenged the Environmental Protection Agency's approval of the EIA's Terms of Reference (TOR), arguing that the failure to address Scope 3 emissions violated Guyana's EPA obligations to issue comprehensive and credible assessments of the project's environmental impact.
The plaintiffs argued that the EPA failed to meet its legal obligation to require comprehensive environmental impact assessments (EIAs) under the Environmental Protection Act. They specifically alleged that the exclusion of Scope 3 emissions from the EIA was unlawful and that greenhouse gas pollution should be properly assessed given its contribution to climate change and ocean acidification.
On March 18, 2025, Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall ruled that Scope 3 emissions are part of the indirect effects of the Hammerhead project and, therefore, must be identified, described, and assessed in the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) conducted under the Environmental Protection Act. However, the judge dismissed the request, finding that the EPA had amended the EIA Terms of Reference after the case was filed to explicitly include Scope 3 emissions. Consequently, the legal challenge no longer warranted further judicial intervention.
ExxonMobil's massive oil project in Guyana represents the company's largest oil exploration venture outside the Permian Basin in the United States. Exxon has reported discoveries of 9 billion barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas off the coast of Guyana.
The lawsuit points out that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) excludes 90% of the damage to the environment, as it did not assess Scope Three emissions from the [seventh] project [Hammerhead, which plans to drill up to thirty wells in the Stabroek block], even though there was a clear court decision requiring the consultant to include these impacts.
Following the ruling, all Environmental Impact Assessments for ExxonMobil projects in Guyana are required to incorporate Scope 3 emissions. This includes CO₂ emissions from burning oil exported and used outside of Guyana, not just emissions within the country.
- Citizens of Guyana
- Guyana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Guyana faces significant challenges from climate change, experiencing frequent droughts and floods that have caused substantial economic losses, while simultaneously developing its oil industry with projects such as Hammerhead, an ExxonMobil initiative to extract oil in deep waters.
This context presents a tension between the need to adapt to climate impacts and the exploitation of fossil resources, although the country seeks to frame its energy development under the umbrella of sustainability and investment in human capital.
Hammerhead is a proposed independent oil project by ExxonMobil in Guyana, located in a deepwater well and seeking to pump up to 180,000 barrels per day starting in 2029, using a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
The case also has repercussions for the Rupununi Region of South Guyana, an area rich in biodiversity and currently threatened by climate change, where several indigenous communities live and produce economically.
Previously, the United Nations Human Rights Committee called on Guyanese authorities to respond to concerns that the nation's expansion in oil and gas production would negatively affect human rights, including those of the most vulnerable groups.
Standards
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
- Paris Agreement.
- Guyana's NDC.
- Constitution of Guyana.
- Environmental Protection Law.
Beginning
- Equity and Intergenerational Solidarity.
- Interculturality.
- Precautionary.
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