Up to the present, neither Prime Minister Andy Burnham nor his Government have ruled out further oil and gas exploitation in the North Sea.
Steve Dawe of Extinction Rebellion Oxford commented:
“The modest amounts of North Sea oil and gas left in the North Sea are in the control of those responsible for existing and any new exploitation. This means new oil and gas would be sold to the highest bidder and may not benefit the UK at all.
“The responsibility of government is to follow the advice of both its own Climate Change Committee and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and prevent ANY new oil and gas exploration and exploitation wherever the UK has influence. So far, Andy Burnham’s speeches and comments show no evidence of appropriate concern for the Climate, or indeed the UK’s depleted natural environment.
“He is out of line with UK public opinion, which has long supported stronger action on both climate and environment. And he is failing so far to stand with the global majority. Up to 89% of people in the world want their governments to do more to fight global heating. The 89 Percent Project is a global journalistic effort to publicise a little-known fact about climate change: the overwhelming majority of the world’s people – between 80 and 89%, according to recent research – want governments to take more action. This is not reflected in news coverage, which helps explain why the 80-89% don’t know that they are the global majority.”
Steve Dawe added:
“Extinction Rebellion wants people and groups to communicate their climate concerns with more actions in their communities, households, and workplaces to help cut greenhouse gas emissions. In Oxfordshire, people must write to their MPs pushing for clear Government commitments for the climate and environment. They can also tell their local councillors to do far more. The UK Government has made some steps towards addressing the climate emergency, but many gaps remain. The Government’s policies on adaptation to climate change have been repeatedly condemned as inadequate.”
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