‘Absurd decision’: Disbelief as government reviews fracking ban hours after dire fossil fuel warning

Door to fracking is reopened hours after UN warns of the ‘moral and economic madness’ of doing so, writes Harry Cockburn

There is huge public opposition to fracking (Getty )

Less than 24 hours after the United Nations called on the world to wind down fossil fuel extractions within three years, the government has renewed its interest in drilling for gas by fracking.

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has ordered a review to be carried out into the practice as the government considers “all possible domestic energy sources” in the wake of surging energy prices and the war in Ukraine.

Fracking – hydraulic fracturing of shale rock to extract fossil gas – was halted in November 2019 after growing concerns over earthquakes. The British Geological Survey will now investigate whether the risks have altered since the ban.