NICOLA Sturgeon has been accused of not “giving a straight answer” over whether she supports plans to open up a North Sea oil field.
The First Minister, who has been attending the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, was confronted by a young climate activist at the summit.
The campaigner asked her if she supports the Rosebank development, currently being considered by the UK Government.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon's plans to fund indy Scotland branded 'environmentally and economically reckless'
Part of the UK Government’s energy strategy is to ramp up fossil fuels development in the North Sea.
After being approached by Polish activist, Wiktoria Jędroszkowiak, the First Minister said: “My views on these things are really clear – we’ve got to move away from fossil fuels – we’ve got to do that in a just way.
“Your friends in Scotland speak to me about these things regularly.”
The First Minister walked off as she was asked if she would say no to the Rosebank oil field.
Activist confronts @NicolaSturgeon at #COP27 about the Rosebank oil field in the UK which would create as much CO2 as 28 countries in the Global South do annually.
— #StopRosebank (@StopCambo) November 8, 2022
Climate targets mean nothing if politicians aren’t willing to walk the talk.
Step 1: Commit to #StopRosebank. pic.twitter.com/b6W6kE7vWB
Ms Jędroszkowiak from Fridays For Future Eastern Europe, said: “When I spoke to Scotland’s First Minister, she did not give me a straight answer on her position on the Rosebank field.
“I know how important it is for political leaders to do everything they can to stop new fossil fuels like this from going ahead.
“The development may be off the coast of Scotland but new oil and gas is simply pouring fuel on the fire of the climate crisis which is already causing massive harm around the world, and further threatening young peoples' future."
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon told to 'provide leadership' and oppose Rosebank oil field
Rosebank contains over 500 million barrels of oil, which if burned would produce the equivalent CO2 emissions of 28 low-income countries combined.
Ahead of the COP27 climate talks, the UN warned that the world was on course for a catastrophic 2.8C of climate warming by the end of this century without immediate action.
Analysis has shown that developing the Rosebank field will cost UK taxpayers more than £100 million, due to a deliberate loophole in the UK Government’s windfall tax. Equinor, the company behind the project, recently declared profits of £21 billion for the third quarter of 2022.
Friends of the Earth Scotland’s head of campaigns Mary Church said: “When Nicola Sturgeon set a precedent and spoke out against Cambo last year, it helped demonstrate to oil companies that their climate-wrecking plans were unacceptable.
“It is vitally important that the First Minister is explicit in her opposition to the Rosebank field which is significantly larger than Cambo.”
She added: “The First Minister is fully aware that Equinor’s plans to develop the massive Rosebank oil field fly in the face of climate science and will do nothing to alleviate the cost of living crisis.
"The oil in Rosebank will be exported and sold on the open market, further inflating Equinor’s massive profits while keeping us locked into volatile fossil fuels.
“The go-ahead for new oil and gas projects lies with the UK Government, but it is clear that the Scottish Government has the power and the duty to influence this process.
“We call on the First Minster to turn the rhetoric of climate leadership into action by taking a firm stance against new fossil fuels, setting an end date for oil and gas within this decade and urgently prioritising a just transition to renewables."
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