The UK government pledged on Monday 31 July to award at least 100 new oil and gas exploration and exploitation licenses in the North Sea, following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge to act “pragmatically and proportionately” against global warming.
With such an announcement, the executive exposes itself to heavy criticism from environmental organizations on the seriousness of its commitment to the environment. This decision comes in full questioning, within the conservative majority but also in the Labor opposition, of certain green policies because of their cost for the British in full inflation. Rishi Sunak is also head-on opposed to Labour, who, given the lead in the next general election next year, want an end to oil and gas exploitation in the North Sea.
“We have all witnessed how [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has instrumentalized energy, disrupting supplies and stalling growth in countries around the world,” the conservative prime minister said in a statement. “Now more than ever, it is vital that we strengthen our energy security and capitalize on this independence to bring more affordable and clean energy to UK homes and businesses,” adds Mr Sunak.
On the household “side”
Support for oil and gas exploitation in the North Sea will support more than 200,000 jobs, says Downing Street. The government is also unveiling the first two CO? capture and storage sites in the North Sea, a sector likely to support up to 50,000 jobs, according to Downing Street. This technology is criticized by some environmentalists as an excuse for the continued exploitation of fossil fuels.
Environmental policies seem to be on the hot seat in the UK since Labour’s surprise defeat by the Conservatives in a local election in west London. This result – with less than 500 votes – was put down to voters’ distrust of the planned extension at the end of August of a tax on polluting vehicles to the whole of Greater London, i.e. nine million inhabitants, and wanted by the Labor mayor, Sadiq Khan.
Under strong pressure from part of the majority, the government has hinted that certain environmental objectives could be relaxed, particularly on energy standards for housing. Rishi Sunak had paved the way over the weekend in a column in the conservative Sunday Telegraph newspaper, calling Labor “anti-motorist” and saying he was “on the side” of households who need their cars.
Climate “Apathy”
“We will make the transition to carbon neutrality”, assured the British Prime Minister on the airwaves of the BBC in Scotland. “I’m committed to it, but we’ll do it in a proportionate and pragmatic way that doesn’t necessarily add to the burden or price of family bills, especially at a time when inflation is higher than everyone else’s.” between us would have liked it,” he added.
According to a spring YouGov poll, 65% of Britons say they are worried about the consequences of climate change, but the majority oppose most measures that would require personal effort.
In any case, the United Kingdom is suffering the effects of global warming. A weather service report warned this week that record high temperatures in the summer of 2022, when the thermometer topped 40°C, would look “cool” by the end of the century.
“We will not sit idly by while politicians use the environment as a political football. It is courage and leadership that we need now, “warned in a letter to Rishi Sunak the leaders of several associations, such as WWF, the National Trust or Greenpeace.
At the end of June, the Secretary of State responsible for the climate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zac Goldsmith – close to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson – left the government, accusing Rishi Sunak in particular of not interest in the environment and denouncing the executive’s “apathy” on the climate.
