When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters.Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer.Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights.You can unsubscribe at any time.

Today, the Government announced it will allow oil drillers to keep digging up the North Sea, despite their pledge to tackle carbon emissions. But now, environmentalist Greta Thunberg has hit back at the plans.

She tweeted: “UK petroleum reserves stand at ca 5.2 billion barrels, the combustion of these fuels would add a further 2.2 gigatons CO2, but now drillers will look for more ‘climate compatible’ oil…”

Kwasi Kwarteng, the business and energy secretary, said the deal sends a “clear message around the world” the UK will be a “nation of clean energy”.

However, Greenpeace UK attacked the deal and described it as a “colossal failure in climate leadership in the year of Cop26”.

Mel Evans, head of Greenpeace UK’s oil campaign told the Guardian: “Instead of finding ways to prop up this volatile and polluting sector, a better proposition for workers and communities would be for the government to confirm a ban on new licences, and put all its energies into a nationwide programme of retraining, reskilling and investment in renewables and green infrastructure.”

Greta’s brutal swipe comes after analysis from CNN found Britain was still planning to produce fossil fuels.

Earlier this year, the Government green-lit a plan to build its first deep coal mine in 30 years in Cumbria.

The UK Climate Change Committee (CCC) claimed the mine’s operation and coal production would emit around nine million tonnes of CO2 every year.

James Hansen, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to reconsider the plan and warned he would be “vilified” by young people.

The decision to continue to dig up the North Sea for oil and gas supplies comes after Denmark and France agreed to ban new oil exploration licences.

In December last year, the Danish government voted in favour of plans to cancel North Sea oil and gas licences.

Climate minister Dan Jørgensen said: “We’re the European Union’s biggest oil producer and this decision will therefore resonate around the world.

“We are now putting a final end to the fossil era.”

The Government pledged to be carbon-free by 2050 as the threat of climate change continues to grow around the world.

In December, Mr Johnson announced a new ambitious target to reduce the UK’s emissions by at least 68 percent by 2030.

He said at the time: “We have proven we can reduce our emissions and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process – uniting businesses, academics, NGOs and local communities in a common goal to go further and faster to tackle climate change.

“Today, we are taking the lead with an ambitious new target to reduce our emissions by 2030, faster than any major economy, with our Ten Point Plan helping us on our path to reach it.

“But this is a global effort, which is why the UK is urging world leaders as part of next week’s Climate Ambition Summit to bring forward their own ambitious plans to cut emissions and set net zero targets.”

Business and Energy Secretary and COP26 President Alok Sharma added: “Tackling climate change is the one of the most urgent shared endeavours of our lifetimes, demanding bold action from every nation to prevent catastrophic global warming.

“As a country, we have demonstrated we can both rapidly cut carbon emissions, while creating new jobs, new technologies and future-proof industries that will generate economic growth for decades to come.

“The UK’s new emissions target is among the highest in the world and reflects the urgency and scale of the challenge our planet faces.

“I hope other countries join us and raise the bar at next week’s UN Climate Ambition Summit, and ahead of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow next year.”

More to follow…

Source: Read Full Article