Britain has issued a new round of licences to explore for oil and gas in the continental North Sea, the BBC reported. Nearly 900 sites are available for exploration and up to 100 licences will be issued.
The decision is at odds with international climate scientists, who say fossil fuel programs should be gradually shut down rather than expanded. If global temperatures are to be kept below 1.5C, there should be no new projects. This view has been expressed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the global climate science body and the International Energy Agency. UN chief also says opening up new fossil fuel funds is’ delusional ‘
British Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said the new exploration would boost energy security and support technical work. Supporters of new exploration insist it is in line with the government’s legal commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. They say North Sea fossil fuels will displace imported fuels and therefore have a lower carbon footprint in production and transport. They say the reserves are not large enough to have a significant impact on the price British consumers pay for energy.
Philip Evans, energy transition campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “This government’s energy policy simply favours fossil fuel companies and new oil and gas licences will not bring down energy bills for hard-pressed households this winter or any winter, nor will they provide energy security in the medium term. The decision to launch a licensing round follows the government’s publication of a “climate compatibility check point”, which is “designed to ensure” that new exploration is consistent with the UK’s climate targets.
The checkpoint standard only includes emissions from oil and gas production and how those emissions compare internationally, but it does not take into account the carbon dioxide emitted when oil and gas are burned.