‘Wrecking ball to climate commitments’: Tory dissenters lead condemnation of Sunak’s North Sea oil plan

Mr Sunak forced to defend his decision to fly to Scotland to make the announcement

Rishi Sunak’s approval of hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas licences has been met with widespread condemnation amid the growing possibility of climate litigation.

The prime minister flew to Aberdeenshire on Monday to announce plans which include £20bn in funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) in northeast Scotland and the Humber in northern England.

The first batch of 100 licences off Scotland will be issued in the autumn and are subject to a climate compatibility test, according to the government and North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).

Mr Sunak claimed that his strategy would help the UK achieve net zero carbon emissions, and bolster domestic energy independence. He has previously promised that the UK would cut carbon by more than two-thirds by 2030.

“We have all witnessed how Putin has manipulated and weaponised energy – disrupting supply and stalling growth in countries around the world,” Mr Sunak said. “But there are those who would rather that it come from hostile states than from the supplies we have here at home.”

The prime minister said the plan would drive down household energy prices and protect jobs.

However, the announcement drew immediate backlash from opposition figures, the renewable energy industry, scientists and climate groups along with former Conservative ministers.

“After 13 yrs in power a Party needs a compelling story to win another term. Does the Prime Minister really think dropping our int’l environmental leadership & rolling back our domestic commitments is that winning story?” tweeted Zac Goldsmith, the former climate minister.

“If so he must have a dim view of the people he wants to lead.”

Former energy minister Chris Skidmore, called Mr Sunak’s strategy “the wrong decision at precisely the wrong time”, and said he would ask the speaker for an emergency debate when parliament returns from its summer break.

With a general election looming, others accused the Tories of watering down green policies such as this weekend’s announcement of a review into low-traffic neighbourhoods in England.

Ed Miliband, shadow climate change secretary, called the Conservative strategy “a culture war on climate”. Today’s announcement revealed a growing divide between the two parties after Sir Keir Starmer promised to end North Sea oil and gas exploration if Labour wins the next general election.

The clean energy industry also reacted with dismay, calling the decision incompatible with UK climate goals and saying that it sent confusing signals at the global level, particularly with the United States and European Union ramping up clean energy investments.

“Real energy security will be delivered by reinforcing our grid systems and sorting out planning delays so that low carbon generation can be built quickly,” said Dr Nina Skorupska CBE, chief executive of REA, the UK’s largest trade association for renewable energy and clean technologies.

Others rubbished the prime minister’s suggestion that more drilling in the North Sea would combat rising household energy costs.

“This [decision] will not bring down bills as there isn’t enough gas to move the dial on international market prices and the oil and gas industry’s own estimates show the North Sea will continue to decline no matter what the government policy is,” said Jess Ralston, from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit [ECIU], an independent advisory group.

Scientists and international bodies, including the widely-respected International Energy Agency and the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee, have called for an immediate halt to new fossil fuel supply projects to achieve the 2050 global net zero target, and stem the tide of burgeoning climate disasters.

Last week, scientists confirmed that July 2023 is the hottest month on record – and possibly in 120,000 years - amid a parade of heatwaves across the globe.

Mr Sunak was also forced to defend his decision to fly to Scotland to make the announcement. During a heated exchange on radio show, Good Morning Scotland, Mr Sunak called taking a jet “the most efficient use of my time”.

The decision places a question mark over the UK’s global reputation on climate issues which it sought to burnish with a wave of commitments at the Cop26 climate summit.

“Today’s announcement is the final nail in the coffin for any suggestion that the UK is a climate leader,” said Molly Scott Cato, former Green MEP and professor of economics at the University of Roehampton London.

“Despite the UK hosting COP26 in Glasgow less than two years ago, the new gas and oil licensing is a clear signal to the EU and the world that the UK isn’t aligned with the leading democracies’ view on the need to rapidly phase out fossil fuels.”

A number of scientists welcomed the massive investment in carbon capture and storage – a costly technology to suck CO2 from the air which remains unproven at scale – but criticized that it appeared to have been used to gloss over fossil fuel expansion.

“Whilst it is fantastic to see this much-needed investment in carbon capture and storage, it is extremely disappointing to have it used as a headline-grabbing smokescreen to distract from a further oil and gas licensing round,” said Dr Stuart Gilfillan, Reader in Geochemistry at the University of Edinburgh.

“If Rishi Sunak and his government were truly serious about meeting net zero, then he would mandate the capture and storage of all of the CO2 emissions that will result from these new licences as a condition of them being awarded.”

Some in the legal community said that Mr Sunak’s new strategy could be subject to growing litigation to combat the climate crisis. Climate-related lawsuits have more than doubled in the past five years to 2,180 court cases around the world, according to a UN study last week.

“It’ll come as no surprise if we see legal challenges by pressure groups about today’s decision by the Government following a recent string of climate-related litigation,” Niall McLean, partner at Brodies LLP and member of the forum of Insurance Lawyers’ Environmental Team, told The Independent via email.

“Most legal action targets the phasing out of fossil fuels, and revolves around challenging government decisions to grant new permits to coal mines and oilfields.”