In a speech, made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the 31st of July, the UK Government announced that it will allow new oil and gas projects to be licensed under a new round of funding. Applications for this funding will open in autumn and it is expected that around 100 licenses will be awarded for both new and existing projects.
Sunak has argued that this round of licences is important to increase the UK’s independence from imported fossil fuels. However, many have opposed as these new oil and gas projects will increase the UK’s carbon footprint, instead of decreasing it as the UK Government has both promised and pledged.
New oil and gas projects to be licensed
under a new round of funding.
According to a progress report, published by the parliament, the UK is no longer seen as a leading country for tackling the issues that come with climate change. The UK Government’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) have also shown their opposition to the new round of licensing claiming that these new projects need strict stress tests to combat climate change.
“…build the safe, clean economy
we urgently need.”
Worryingly the Prime Minister is also suggesting that he will weaken key policies that will make the UK greener.
Mike Childs, Friends of the Earth’s Head of Science, Policy and Research, has claimed that the Prime Minister “should stop playing politics with young people’s futures” and that he should be “build[ing] the safe, clean economy we urgently need.”
