Prime Minister Burnham vows climate neutrality despite Jackdaw approval — The Guardian
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the country will achieve climate neutrality by 2050 despite approving development of the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea. He also pledged not to issue new licences for oil and gas extraction in the North Sea, The Guardian reports.
According to Burnham, the government will not abandon the fight against the climate crisis. He stressed that the UK has just experienced its hottest summer on record, during which nurses fainted on hospital wards, bus drivers worked in unbearable conditions, and families lost property to wildfires.
The government’s argument on Jackdaw
Burnham explained the approval of the project by the need to strengthen energy security amid global instability. According to him, using domestic resources is more expedient than importing gas, and gas from Jackdaw is expected to begin providing heating for homes and powering businesses as early as this winter.
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The prime minister also said that the transition to cleaner energy must provide new employment opportunities for oil and gas industry workers. He mentioned the situation of workers in Aberdeen and said he did not want to allow a repeat of situations in which the consequences of deindustrialisation for local communities were left without proper attention.
Decision on Rosebank
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said that she herself would make the decision on the possible approval of the Rosebank oil field. According to the publication’s sources, she is inclined to block the project. Fahnbulleh stressed that she bears legal responsibility for the UK’s compliance with its climate commitments.
She also said that the private sector has invested £100 billion in clean energy over the past two years. Burnham supported the creation of an Energy Welfare Fund, to which tax revenues from oil and gas extraction in the North Sea are planned to be directed for clean energy programmes.
