Amidst a summer of escalating climate impacts, four Greenpeace activists climbed onto the roof of the prime minister’s £2mn manor house in Yorkshire earlier this morning, in protest at his backing for a major expansion of North Sea oil and gas drilling.
Protesters unfolded a massive 200 square metre black shroud representing oil, covering a whole side of Rishi Sunak’s mansion while the prime minister is on holiday. At the same time, two activists unfurled a banner emblazoned with the words “Rishi Sunak – Oil Profits or Our Future?” across the grass in front of the manor house.
Fossil fuel expansion
Sunak’s government has come under heavy criticism for pushing ahead with plans to hand out around 100 new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, in a move that many have seen as a political move to appease supporters, rather than act decisively to meet the legal climate commitments of net zero.
António Guterres, the general secretary of the United Nations commented last year that, “Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels. Investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness”.
‘Be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist’
Commenting on the protest, Philip Evans, Greenpeace UK’s climate campaigner, said:
“We desperately need our prime minister to be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist. Just as wildfires and floods wreck homes and lives around the world, Sunak is committing to a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling. He seems quite happy to hold a blowtorch to the planet if he can score a few political points by sowing division around climate in this country. This is cynical beyond belief.
“Sunak is even willing to peddle the old myth about new oil and gas helping ordinary people struggling with energy bills when he knows full well it’s not true. More North Sea drilling will only benefit oil giants who stand to make even more billions from it, partly thanks to a giant loophole in Sunak’s own windfall tax.
“The experts are clear – we can’t afford any new oil and gas, and the fossil fuel industry certainly doesn’t need another helping hand in destroying the climate. What we need is a clean, affordable energy system fit for the 21st century. It’s time for Sunak to choose between Big Oil’s profits or our future on a habitable planet.”
Greenpeace also warned about the approval of Rosebank – the largest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea.
“Thanks to a loophole in Sunak’s windfall tax, the UK public will foot the bill for 91% of the development costs as the Norwegian oil giant that owns it [Rosebank], Equinor, will be handed £3.75bn of public money to develop the field whilst being able to rake in tens of billions in profits.”
‘The wrong decision at the wrong time’
Chris Skidmore, MP, who recently led the assessment of the government’s approach to net zero commented that:
“Agreeing to new oil and gas fields won’t help the UK. It will only create more declining and stranded assets that will cost our future economy when we can be investing and creating jobs and growth in clean energy.”
He was incensed by Sunak’s decision to expand the North Sea fields, stating that he would seek an emergency debate, once parliament returned.
“This is the wrong decision at precisely the wrong time, when the rest of the world is experiencing record heat waves … Worryingly, this decision has also been announced when MPs are on recess, unable to hold the government to account. I will be writing to the speaker to call for an emergency debate as soon as we return.”
Fossil fuel expansion won’t create energy security
Grant Shapps, the secretary of state for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero was recently challenged on the North Sea expansions on Sky News, which asked him, “You’re not controlling the supply, you’re not controlling the price. It’s international energy companies that are. Why does that give us energy security?” Shapps responded by repeating his comments about his visit to a gas terminal and talked about processing gas rather than exploring the pricing issue.
Energy security was also challenged by Channel 4 news, when they reported on whether we needed more North sea oil and gas extraction. They emphasised the fact that the UK currently exports around 80% of North Sea oil and although we are a net importer of gas, only 4% came from Russia before its invasion of Ukraine, most of our gas comes from friendly Norway.
Impact on health
The Royal College of Physicians is another organisation which is calling for the withdrawal of the decision to issue new licences for North Sea oil and gas expansion, citing the concerns of climate change on human health. In an open letter to the prime minister, they outlined:
“Health workers are already seeing the consequences of ill health caused by high temperatures, extreme weather and pollution. For example, more than 3,000 excess deaths were recorded in England and Wales during the heatwaves between June and August 2022.”
Writing in the Guardian this week, George Monbiot eviscerated Sunak’s government, commenting that they would “sell out the planet to the dirtiest bidders” and drawing attention to the reported £3.5mn received by the Conservative Party in 2022 from individuals and entities linked to climate denial and fossil fuel/high-polluting industries. Commentators have even noticed the timing between Sunak’s family firm signing a billion-dollar deal with BP, before the prime minister decided to opt for fossil fuel expansion.
More climate reversals looming?
Monbiot argues that Sunak is using this policy as a political survival strategy for the next few weeks, while parliament is in recess and cannot hold him to account. The government has completed a series of climate policy row-backs in the past month, with the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars potentially becoming the next climate policy reversal.
According to polling data from Conservative Home, approximately 83% of Sunak’s supporters believe that the government is wrong to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030, suggesting that this shift in policy would take the pressure off Sunak temporarily from internal threats. The same data also reveals that approximately 12% of those surveyed believe that global warming isn’t happening and that approximately 33% believe that it is happening, but that human activity isn’t driving it. It is clear to see the motives for Sunak’s actions.
Police response to Greenpeace action
The situation at the prime minister’s house in Richmond is developing, with the latest response from North Yorkshire Police regarding the Greenpeace protest stating only that, “We’re responding to reports of protest activity at a property in Kirby Sigston, near Northallerton. Our officers are at the scene and managing the situation. We’ll provide a further update in due course”.
It is likely, however, that Sunak will use this action by Greenpeace to galvanise his support base even further and push ahead with even more draconian measures, further endangering the UK’s net zero commitments.
