North Sea Abigail oilfield plan approved despite climate goals
Ministers face a backlash from climate groups after giving the green light to a new North Sea oilfield just weeks after the Cop26 UN climate talks in Glasgow.
The Abigail oil and gas field off the east coast of Scotland was quietly approved by the government’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) last month, defying climate experts who warned at the Glasgow conference in November that no new fossil fuel developments would be compatible with the world’s climate targets.
Climate campaigners object to the field, which will be developed by Israeli owned Ithaca Energy, because its diminutive gas reserves will do little to help secure the UK’s energy supplies while contributing to carbon emissions.
Tessa Khan, the director of Uplift, a group which campaigns for a fossil-free UK, said the field would “see little to no benefit for UK energy customers or taxpayers, which only worsens the climate crisis, and where the only winners are the oil firm behind the project”.
Khan said the government should instead cut the UK’s reliance on “very expensive, highly polluting energy” in favour of a “serious response” to both unaffordable energy bills and the climate crisis based on renewable energy.
“The government needs to stop rolling over for the oil and gas industry, stop dishing out licences, and get on with making sure people have access to affordable, renewable energy,” she said.
An OGA spokesperson said; “The OGA will continuously hold the operator to account on emissions reductions as part of our stewardship.”
The government has also faced opposition for failing to insist that a major new oil development at Cambo in the North Sea comply with incoming legislation which would apply a “climate compatibility checkpoint” for new fossil fuel projects.
Wor
Read more on theguardian.com
