End Oil And Gas Drilling In North Sea, Government's Own Climate Advisers Warn

Ministers must end the expansion of oil and gas exploration across Britain with a “presumption” against new projects in the North Sea, the government’s own climate advisers have said.

- JON STONE

In a letter to Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said it was time for Britain to “send a clear signal” about the climate emergency at home and abroad.

Green groups said the advice should lead to a “paradigm shift” and welcomed it as “a clear blow for the fossil fuel industry”. The government recently invited oil and gas companies to help write their own rulebook on when new drilling should go ahead.

The Independent’s Stop Fuelling the Climate Crisis campaign is calling for a halt on new drilling to help tackle the emergency.

In its letter to the business secretary the CCC, a statutory but independent body that advises on how the UK can reach its climate goals, said: “We would support a tighter limit on production, with stringent tests and a presumption against exploration.

“An end to UK exploration would send a clear signal to investors and consumers that the UK is committed to the 1.5C global temperature goal. That would also help the UK in its diplomatic efforts to strengthen climate ambition internationally.”

The government is currently drawing up a “climate checkpoint” for new oil and gas exploration, which will govern when exploration and drilling should go ahead. But green campaigners reacted angrily in January after the business department said its consultation was “predominantly” for the oil and gas industries to take the “opportunity to input on the design” of the policy.