A new analysis has shown that new oil and gas licences for the North Sea that the UK government has approved in the past two years will produce as much carbon dioxide as the annual emissions of nearly 14m cars, or the entire yearly emissions of Denmark.
This amount, which is about 28m tonnes of carbon dioxide over the lifetimes of the fields, will be increased more than eightfold, if potential licences under consideration are also granted, according to data from public sources analysed by Greenpeace.
At least three large oil and gas fields have been approved since the International Energy Agency warned in May 2021 that no new developments of fossil fuels could be constructed if the world was to limit global temperature increases to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. The IEA report was conducted at the behest of the UK government, which was preparing to host the Cop26 climate summit.
The government has since then, put in place a “climate checkpoint”, assessing potential new licences before drilling can take place. However, the checks focus on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with exploring and operating new fields, rather than taking into account the emissions – known in climate jargon as “scope 3” emissions – that are generated from burning the fossil fuels produced from the fields.
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Greenpeace argued that failing to take these emissions into account in official impact assessments makes a mockery of the UK’s climate goals. In a court case expected to be heard on Tuesday, the group will seek to establish that the government’s actions are unlawful.
Philip Evans, who is a campaigner at Greenpeace was quoted as saying: “As large parts of Europe, North America and Asia are gripped by a hellish heatwave, we can see that the climate crisis is spiralling out of control, yet the government is insisting on massively expanding oil and gas drilling that will only make it worse.
“As if that wasn’t scandalous enough, when making these decisions ministers deliberately ignore the emissions from burning all these new fossil fuels. That’s grossly irresponsible.”
Government ministers face a fresh assault on green issues. The byelection held in Boris Johnson’s former seat, Uxbridge and South Ruislip, was judged to have been lost by Labour, which keenly targeted the seat but was defeated by a margin of 495 votes, because of voter concern over the expansion of London’s ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez).
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
