On Monday 17th August, protests took place outside of the Treasury and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) as the public consultation on plans for new North Sea oil and gas drilling concluded.
The plan to approve new oil and gas licenses for two major fields, Rosebank and Jackdaw, were originally approved in 2022 and 2023 respectively under Conservative governments. Labour’s 2024 manifesto pledged not to approve any new oil and gas licenses, but would honour existing ones. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was taking a “pragmatic” approach to the energy sector amid reports he could announce support measures for new North Sea drilling.
A DESNZ spokesperson said:
“The North Sea remains a vital national asset, supporting jobs, growth and the UK’s energy security.
“We are clear that oil and gas will continue to play an important role in our energy system for decades to come, alongside transitioning to clean power to protect jobs and tackle the climate crisis.”
However, critics of the plans, including the UK Energy Research Centre, have stated that the impact this will have on reducing household energy bills is limited, and campaign groups have highlighted the extremely negative environmental impact the approval will have, especially after a summer of wildfires and an estimated 2877 excess heat-associated deaths due to the May and June heatwaves. The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled in 2025 that the original licenses for Rosebank and Jackdaw were granted unlawfully due to lack of consideration for the climate impact of the new fields. The Green Party also called for the government to reject the plans.
It appears the government is now delaying their final decision on the matter until the autumn. Amidst the emergency notification sent out on Friday 14 August to all UK residents warning against using disposable BBQs due to the risk of wildfires, committing to new drilling would be highly controversial.
The Treasury protest was organised by Fossil Free London, a climate justice organisation based in Tower Hamlets.
Director of Fossil Free London, Robin Wells, stated:
“Andy Burnham might hope that by delaying his decision on Rosebank, people will forget the wildfires that destroyed homes, gardens and countryside. That we’ll forget the more than 2,500 deaths caused by extreme heat. We won’t!
“These are not the actions of a government that puts people’s safety first. This is a government putting fossil fuel profits ahead of our homes, our health and our future, while pretending that new North Sea oil will bring down energy bills or make us more energy secure. It won’t!
“Will Andy Burnham show he is really a man of the people, as he claims, or will he fall prey to fossil fuel lobbying like his predecessors?” [1]
Fossil Free London’s protest emphasised climate impact on food and crop failures due to the droughts, heatwaves and wildfires of the summer. Signs from protestors appealed to the Prime Minister to halt the measures, reading “Andy: Choose Food Not Oil”, “Oil Fuels Crop Failure #StopRosebank” and “You Can’t Eat Oil”. The website for Fossil Free London has an open call to action if the Rosebank oil field is approved; the organisation state they are prepared to protest if the Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, and the rest of the cabinet do not reject the drilling proposals.
The DESNZ protest was organised by Scientists on Survival, a group that supports scientists across a variety of fields to take action against climate change as well as “ecological, health and societal collapse”.
Fourteen scientists sprayed fire extinguishers at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, with the Scientists on Survival website stating that all those who took part tried other routes to communicate the need for climate action – contributing to research, signing letters and petitions and contacting their MPs – and are now taking drastic action. 50 climate scientists signed a letter to the Energy Secretary urging against new oil drilling and warning against the influence of the fossil fuel industry earlier this month, along with 200 artists signing an open letter to Andy Burnham calling on him to not grant the drilling license to Rosebank.
