Million strong demand for just transition away from oil and gas
This week, I was at 10 Downing Street on behalf of over a million people, demanding a just transition away from new oil and gas. It is one of the largest petitions ever handed in to Downing Street.
We were there because the UK Government is currently consulting on the future of the North Sea – on ending oil and gas licences and how to ensure a just transition for the workers and communities impacted.
Labour came into government last summer with an election promise to stop giving out licences to explore for oil and gas in the North Sea. This is a significant milestone. It’s an important first step in winding down oil and gas drilling, and one that has undoubtedly come about thanks to the tenacity of the climate movement over many years.
However, the government plan leaves a large loophole that could lead to dozens of new oil and gas fields being drilled. It could allow fields which were granted an exploration licence years ago, but have never been drilled, to start production. There are around 100 licences in this position, and the climate impact of drilling these would be devastating.
Enormous climate cost to new oil fields
They could release 1.5 billion tonnes of pollution, equivalent to running 50 coal power stations for the next 25 years. Research has shown that we have more than enough oil and gas in already developed fields to power the energy transition, we don’t need to start drilling new fields.
Climate science is clear there should be no new oil and gas developments, at all. To slow the devastating climate breakdown that we can already feel here in Scotland, ultimately we need to stop burning fossil fuels altogether. The government must manage the wind down of oil and gas drilling, while ramping up publicly owned renewable energy and actively supporting workers and communities through the transition.
The million strong petition, achieved jointly across Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Stop Rosebank, Global Justice Now and Avaaz, demands the UK Government rules out all new oil and gas drilling, including all the fields that have already had licences but not been drilled like the controversial Rosebank and Cambo projects.
Demands for support for oil workers
Crucially, these million people are also demanding that the government deliver a well funded just transition plan to support people who work in the fossil fuel industry and communities that are currently reliant on it. That must include financial support for people to retrain into new jobs, and investing in domestic manufacturing hubs, upgrading port infrastructure and supply chains. This will ensure that far more of the benefits of renewable energy projects are kept here.
During the closing weeks of the consultation, the oil and gas industry has continued to lobby fiercely and tried to undermine the move to renewables. Through all this, we’ve heard nothing from the Scottish Government. When Nicola Sturgeon was First Minister, the Scottish Government adopted a ‘presumption against new oil and gas’.
Successive First Ministers have paid lip service to achieving net zero and just transition, but have failed to deliver the actions needed to get us there. The Scottish Government’s Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan has seemingly vanished, like so many of its other climate commitments.
To protect the workers and communities in Scotland that will be most impacted by the transition away from fossil fuels, the Scottish Government must step up. It must acknowledge that the transition is inevitable, and that continuing to sit on the fence or trust oil companies to do the right thing will result in more disastrous outcomes like the situation at Grangemouth.
One million people is an enormous show of strength and shows the public appetite for a fast, fair transition away from fossil fuels. Both governments need to stop listening to the paid lobbyists for the wealthy oil executives, who are trying to delay the transition for the benefit of their bank balances, and realise that the weight of both scientific and public opinion is in favour of the transition away from oil and gas.
Politicians must be willing to listen to the workers and communities most affected by the transition and put their needs at the heart of designing an renewable energy system that reduces our bills, creates decent jobs and works in the interest of people and the planet. While the best time to start delivering a transition was decades ago when climate warning alarms were first being sounded, the next best time is now.