CHRISTIAN AID has joined a chorus of protest against the Government’s decision to award more than 100 new North Sea oil and gas extraction licences.
The development charity’s Head of UK Advocacy and Campaigns, Jennifer Larbie, said that Monday’s announcement by the Prime Minister “flies in the face of climate science”. It “obliterates the UK’s net-zero commitments, and lets down people on the front line of the climate crisis. The Prime Minister needs to put people and planet first. From the terrible drought in East Africa to fires across Europe in recent weeks, the climate crisis is causing untold human loss and suffering.
“Now, more than ever, the UK Government needs to show genuine leadership and strengthen their climate plans which are vital for the protection of millions in low-income countries. Instead, these wrongheaded priorities on new oil and gas licences flies in the face of climate science.”
Announcing the new licences, which will be issued from September, Mr Sunak said that their approval was “entirely consistent” with the Government’s net-zero plan. Speaking during a visit to Aberdeenshire, where a large carbon-capture plant is planned, he said that oil and gas extracted in the UK saved “two, three, four times the amount of carbon emissions” compared with shipping it from elsewhere in the world. He warned that Britain would still need oil and gas for decades.
Chris Skidmore, the Conservative MP for Kingswood, Gloucestershire, and a former Energy Minister, however, believed that it “was the wrong decision at precisely the wrong time when the rest of the world is experiencing record heatwaves”. The MP, who chaired an independent review of net zero, said: “It is on the wrong side of a future economy that will be founded on renewable and clean industries and not fossil fuels. It is on the wrong side of modern voters who will vote with their feet at the next General Election for parties that protect, and not threaten, our environment.”
The head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, Jess Ralston, said that the move would “not bring down bills”, as there was not enough gas in the North Sea to “move the dial on international market prices”.
Mike Childs, head of policy at Friends of the Earth, called on Mr Sunak to “focus on energy efficiency and the UK’s vast homegrown renewable resources, rather than championing more costly and dirty fossil fuels”.