UK’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has announced the approval of about 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences, claiming the move would help the UK reach its target of meeting net zero by 2050.
During a visit to Aberdeenshire on Monday, the PM spoke about his desire to maintain UK fossil fuel exploration, a key political dividing line with Labour, which has said it will stop any new North Sea drilling if it comes into power.
Ahead of the visit, No 10 revealed its plan for a new round of licences, as well as plans for two new carbon capture and storage facilities, including the Acorn scheme in north-east Scotland, which missed out when two other sites were chosen for such facilities in 2021.
While environmentalists and many scientists have warned that new fossil fuel projects are incompatible with net zero targets, Sunak was quoted as saying that the licences were integral to the plan.
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“When we reach net zero in 2050, a quarter of our energy needs will still come from oil and gas, and domestic gas production has about a quarter or a third of the carbon footprint of imported gas,” Sunak said. “So not only is it better for our energy security, not to rely on foreign dictators for that energy, not only is it good for jobs, particularly Scottish jobs, it’s actually better for the environment because there’s no point in importing stuff from halfway around the world, with two to three times the carbon footprint of the stuff we’ve got at home.”
While restating his commitment to the 2050 target, and to the deadline of stopping the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, Sunak said: “This is a good story for the UK overall. It’s not about political seats, it’s just about doing the right thing for the country.”
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
