Further gas and oil extraction in Scotland would nearly quadruple the UK’s fossil fuel-related climate emissions and is “incompatible” with tackling climate change, it has been warned.
A report by a coalition of environmental charities says the UK is among the top 10 countries in terms of planning to increase oil and gas production over the next five years.
It claims expanding North Sea extraction as currently envisaged would far exceed the carbon emission savings from eliminating coal, with subsidies for the work adding twice as much carbon to the atmosphere as the UK’s coal phaseout saves.
However, a spokesman for the UK oil and gas industry criticised the report as “disappointing” and misleading.
The Scottish Government has said oil and gas are likely to remain “vital” to the nation’s economy and energy needs.
In 2018, the volume of oil and gas production in Scotland is estimated to have increased by 4.6 per cent to the equivalent of 77.2 million tonnes of oil, accounting for 82% of the UK total.
Oil and gas produced in Scotland in 2018 alone was estimated to be climate-wrecking fossil fuels. We know that the Scottish Government adopts the same position as the UK Government in terms of supporting continued exploration and development of oil and gas... This position is completely incompatible with tackling the climate emergency.”
Oil and Gas UK’s upstream policy director Mike Tholen said: “This is a disappointing report which misrepresents production data and ignores the fact that prematurely shutting down domestic oil and gas would only increase UK reliance on imports.
“This would offshore the emissions linked to domestic demand at the same time as sacrificing the benefits the industry offers such as jobs, taxation, infrastructure and the same engineering companies we need to deliver the transition we all want to see.”
He claimed the UK offshore oil and gas industry was already taking action to help meet climate change commitments through its Roadmap 2035, which Mr Tholen said “sets out our positive blueprint... as we look to actually deliver the fair, inclusive and credible transition to a low carbon future.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel