The UK government has announced that drilling will proceed at the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea. Prime Minister Andy Burnham described the decision as a pragmatic approach, stating that the country will still require oil and gas as part of its energy needs for decades to come. The announcement follows months of consideration and has drawn protests outside the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in London.
The approval covers the Jackdaw field and allows drilling in adjacent areas. A separate decision on the Rosebank oil field is expected by the end of the year. Officials present the move as necessary to meet ongoing energy demands.
A study published two weeks earlier found that the rate of global heating doubled between 2011 and 2025 compared with the longer period from 1971 to 2025. The planet’s temperature is now rising at 0.4°C per decade. This pace means the 1.5°C limit is set to be permanently breached as soon as 2028.
A United Nations Environment Programme report released the same day as the drilling decision states that while the 1.5°C threshold is no longer achievable, it may still be possible to limit the rise to a few tenths of a degree above that level. To have a good chance of staying below 1.7°C to 1.8°C, greenhouse gas emissions would need to fall 18 per cent by the end of this decade, 45 per cent by 2035 and nearly 70 per cent by 2040. Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, noted that implementing current national commitments would lead to global emissions reaching close to 50 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2035.
The decision retains fossil fuel infrastructure in the UK energy mix for decades and could affect national carbon reduction goals. Critics linked in the source material say it also provides other countries with justification for their own new fossil fuel projects. The source states the move will not deliver cheaper energy or more jobs but will contribute to higher temperatures that bring more drought, floods and wildfires.
