Rebecca Speare-Cole, Press Association Sustainability Reporter
Labour’s climate credibility is “on the line now”, climate campaigners have warned, after the Government approved plans to begin drilling in the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea.
Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Uplift and WWF are among the environmental groups that condemned the decision, which was announced by Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh on Wednesday.
They warned that new drilling at Jackdaw will further drive already devastating climate impacts and mainly enrich fossil fuel firms while doing little to tackle the decline in North Sea jobs, risks to energy security or the cost-of-living crisis.
The untapped gas field, which lies about 150 miles east of Aberdeen and is operated by the joint Shell-Equinor venture Adura, will begin to supply gas to the UK grid by the end of the month.
The Government argued that approving the project will support the country’s energy security with homegrown gas this winter and minimise the use of imported fuels that have been produced with a higher environmental impact.
It comes at a time when major supply disruptions driven by conflict in the Middle East are causing global fossil fuel prices to skyrocket.
While Labour came to power in 2024 with the promise of accelerating clean power while issuing no new oil and gas drilling licences, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said his Government is taking a “pragmatic” approach to the North Sea.
Ms Fahnbulleh also insisted the decision is compatible with the UK’s legally binding climate commitments, with the Government remaining “resolute” in ending new licences and cutting planet heating emissions to zero overall by 2050.
It is largely accepted that Jackdaw will not cut energy bills because the price of its gas will still be governed by volatile international commodity prices.
Ami McCarthy, head of politics for Greenpeace UK, said: “What Jackdaw is guaranteed to do is generate record profits for Shell and Equinor while supercharging the climate chaos hitting families here and abroad.
“True pragmatism means severing our reliance on expensive oil and gas that leaves British households broke, supercharges extreme weather, and leaves our energy security at the mercy of petrostates.”
Caroline Rance, Friends of the Earth Scotland’s head of campaigns, said the Government has chosen “to put hundreds of thousands more people at risk from fuel poverty and extreme weather”.
“Giving Jackdaw the green light is guaranteeing more climate impacts like the deadly heatwaves and wildfires in the UK this summer, and the devastating floods in Nepal,” she said.
And Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “The North Sea is a basin in decline and new drilling won’t reverse that.
“It just prolongs the country’s exposure to the price shock profiteers’ agenda.
“Ministers should be focused on the future and the homegrown renewables, home upgrades and energy market reform that will actually cut energy costs for households.”
The Government is still weighing up the decision to approve drilling at the much bigger Rosebank, Britain’s largest remaining untapped oil field, located about 80 miles north-west of the Shetland Islands.
Green groups immediately urged ministers to reject the “even more damaging” project, which will dwarf the planet-heating emissions produced by Jackdaw.
According to Shell, Jackdaw could produce emissions of up to 35.8 million tonnes during its 10-year lifetime.
For context, Scotland’s total emissions for 2023 were 39.6 million.
Meanwhile, Equinor has found that Rosebank could produce emissions equivalent to 254 million tonnes of carbon over its 25-year lifetime.
Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, which campaigns for a transition away from oil and gas production, said: “Labour’s climate credibility is on the line now.
“No new oil and gas fields are compatible with safe climate limits, but the defining test is Rosebank.
“Approving it would see the Government knowingly breach safe climate limits.
“Burnham must deliver on his promise to put the common good ahead of vested interests – and prioritise affordable bills, genuine industrial growth and a safe climate over oil profits.
“That means rejecting Rosebank.”
Kate Norgrove, WWF chief impact officer, said Jackdaw is a “disappointing decision”, but added that the Government now “urgently needs to show that it remains 100% committed to the clean energy transition by rejecting the even more damaging Rosebank oil field”.
“The truth is that this decision will only support a tiny number of jobs, do nothing to lower prices, barely move the needle on growth, and undermine the UK’s climate leadership,” she said.
“We have all seen the devastating consequences of rising temperatures this summer for people and nature, and it’s clear that politicians are out of step with public opinion on taking action on climate change.”
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