2023-07-31 19:11:10
Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a visit to Shell’s St Fergus gas plant in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, to announce new measures to protect the UK’s long-term energy security, the July 31, 2023. PA IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO / MAXPPP
In the heart of summer, when the planet experienced the hottest July in its modern history, Rishi Sunak embarked on a new strategy making the environment a political dividing line. If he does not question the United Kingdom’s objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, the British Prime Minister multiplies the announcements to defend motorists, support the production of hydrocarbons in the North Sea and reduce the price per tonne of CO2 for heavy industries. One year before the legislative elections scheduled for autumn 2024, he is seeking to distinguish himself from the Labor Party.
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On Monday July 31, he traveled to Scotland to confirm that more than a hundred new gas and oil exploration and exploitation licenses will be granted in the coming months in the North Sea. It is, according to him, the energy security of the United Kingdom: “We have seen how [Vladimir] Putin manipulated and used the energy weapon, disrupting supplies and reducing economic growth in countries around the world. (…) Even when we have reached carbon neutrality in 2050, a quarter of our energy will still come from oil and gas, but some would no doubt prefer that these come from hostile states rather than from local production. »
Mr. Sunak adds an environmental argument: British authorities have calculated that the carbon footprint of local gas operations is four times lower than for imported liquefied natural gas.
Environmental associations cry foul. “As wildfires and floods destroy homes and lives across the world, Rishi Sunak’s government has decided to back down on key climate policies”accuse Philip Evans, de Greenpeace. “To limit global warming to 1.5°C, there must be no more new hydrocarbon exploitations around the world, according to the International Energy Agency, recalls Jim Watson, director of the Institute for Sustainable Resources at University College London. If the UK issues new licenses, other countries would have to reduce their production. But none do. »
“Draw a clear line”
The British Prime Minister also announces that two new carbon capture projects, in the northeast of Scotland and on the east coast of England, have been selected. These are in addition to two other projects, which may benefit from subsidies, even if their exact amount is not known.
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