Tag: climate targets

No Time to Lose: Holyrood must ‘bite the bullet’ on oil and gas phase out

CAMPAIGNERS CALL FOR FULLY RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEM BY 2030

Climate campaigners are calling on the Scottish Government to bite the bullet and commit to a fully renewable energy system by 2030 as the public consultation on its Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan closes tomorrow (Tuesday 9th May).

Campaigners highlighted conflicting visions within the document and the over-reliance on carbon capture and hydrogen to meet the Government’s 2030 vision, despite previously admitting this would not be possible. 

Campaigners said that with critical 2030 climate targets looming, it is essential that the final version of the energy plan sets out a comprehensive strategy for a managed and just phase out of oil and gas, moving to a fully renewable energy system that is run for the benefit of people and the planet. 

Whilst campaigning to be First Minister Humza Yousaf pledged to take a 10% equity share in future offshore wind leasing round and set up a publicly owned energy generation company. Neither of these options to create an energy system that delivers greater benefits to the public are considered in this document.

Given the abject failure of market forces to respond to the climate crisis, Friends of the Earth Scotland believes that public ownership is key to driving the transformation of the energy system.

The draft version of the ESJTP was also criticised for compiling existing policies and strategies, failing to fill in the gaps or address lack of coherence between these. 

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s head of campaigns Mary Church said: “The final destination of this Strategy is bold but there is no coherent plan for how we will get there.

“If Scotland is to stop missing climate targets, it needs to get off fossil fuels and deliver the wide-ranging transformation needed in public transport, home insulation and renewable generation that can help slash climate pollution and tackle the cost of living crisis. 

“There is no time to lose. The Scottish Government must bite the bullet and set a clear direction of travel and how we are going to get there. As part of that we need a clear end date for oil and gas within this decade and a detailed plan on how affected workers and communities will be supported through the transition.

“Ministers must stop clinging to the dangerous illusion that carbon capture can deliver the urgent step change needed in Scotland’s climate efforts, and focus on delivering a fully renewable energy system by 2030.

“Profit driven energy bosses have long failed to deliver an energy system that works for households or creates enough decent green jobs in Scotland.

“Humza Yousaf must build on his promise to take stakes in future offshore wind projects and make sure that a public energy company is set up swiftly to share the benefits of our energy resources more fairly and drive the just transition.”

The final version of the Strategy should: 

        • Set a clear date and plan for the end of oil and gas use within this decade
        • Reject new fossil fuel infrastructure and over-reliance on Carbon Capture 
        • Clarify that the 2030 decarbonisation target will be met fully through renewables
        • Detailed green jobs creation plan and clear pathways for oil workers to switch sector  
        • Centre public ownership with public good objectives to drive the just transition
        • Reduce overall energy demand through public transport and home insulation
        • Ensure fair consumption of minerals critical to the energy transition

Environmental campaigners welcome Scottish Government statement on oil and gas licences

Environmental campaigners have welcomed yesterday’s statement from Minister for Environment and Land Reform Mairi McAllan that the Scottish Government “does not agree with the UK Government issuing new oil and gas licences”.

This came in response to a parliamentary question from Mark Ruskell MSP about whether the Rosebank oil field, and new licensing, should be allowed to go ahead, given the First Minister’s previous opposition to the Cambo oil field last year.

Ms McAllan said that the licensing of new oil and gas extraction is not the answer to either the cost of energy crisis or the climate crisis. The UK Government recently opened a licensing round which could issue over 100 licences for fossil fuel companies to explore the UK Continental Shelf for new oil and gas fields.

The Rosebank oil field already has a licence, and would be three times the size of Cambo. Equinor, the Norwegian oil company that wants to develop Rosebank, is currently awaiting approval from the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on its environmental statement before the project can begin development.

Rosebank would not extract its first oil until late 2026, and the majority of the oil extracted would be exported and sold on the open market, doing little for the UK’s energy security.

Campaigners welcomed Ms McAllan’s statement as a strengthening of the Scottish Government’s position on new oil and gas.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s oil and gas campaigner Freya Aitchison said: “Mairi McAllan is completely right to say that new oil and gas extraction isn’t the answer to the cost of living crisis or the climate crisis.

“Millions of families are being pushed into fuel poverty by greedy oil companies for short-term profits. Meanwhile climate science is clear that there can be no new oil and gas licensing if we are to avoid truly catastrophic warming.

“This is the furthest the Scottish Government has gone to date in its opposition to new licensing, and Ministers must now pressure the UK Government to abandon its climate-wrecking oil expansion plans, starting by rejecting the plans to develop Rosebank. The Scottish Government must cement this position in the forthcoming Energy Strategy, putting an end date on fossil fuels and setting out the framework for a managed and just phase out of oil and gas within this decade.

“The Scottish Government’s opposition to new oil and gas extraction will make Rosebank a more risky investment, so Equinor should really think again.

“If Rosebank were allowed to go ahead, it would produce the same amount of climate-wrecking pollution as the annual emissions of 28 low-income countries combined.

“Approving it would fly in the face of climate science, which is clear that allowing any new fossil fuel extraction will take us past globally agreed climate targets.”