Is Burnham feeling the heat on Rosebank?

On the day the government ended its ‘public consultation’ on whether to allow drilling from a controversial new oil field, scientists sprayed fire extinguishers at the energy department, dozens of protestors rallied outside the Treasury and hundreds of famous musicians wrote to the Prime Minister. These different groups are all aligned in their message: greenlighting Rosebank is a recipe for more disruption, destruction and deaths.

What’s Rosebank?

Located about 80 miles from the Shetland Islands, Rosebank is the largest remaining untapped oil field in UK waters. Drilling from Rosebank was originally approved back in 2023 by the Conservative government. At that time, many Labour party politicians were vehemently opposed to it.

Ed Miliband – now Foreign Secretary – was one of Rosebank’s most vocal opponents. In March 2023, he summarised:

Rosebank: £3.75bn of taxpayer subsidy which could have been invested in renewables. 80% of oil exported, not a penny off bills, equivalent to half all UK emissions for a year. Colossal waste of taxpayer money and climate vandalism.

The decision to allow drilling from Rosebank was overturned last year after a legal challenge by campaign groups Greenpeace and Uplift. They successfully argued that the climate damage that would be caused by burning Rosebank’s fossil fuels had not been taken into account.

Now Rosebank’s owners – fossil fuel companies Shell, Equinor and Ithaca Energy – are trying again: they have resubmitted their application to drill. Having given the public a chance to comment, the decision now rests with the government.

Resistance to Rosebank

In a summer defined by deadly heatwaves, hundreds of wildfires and drought-stricken harvests, the public have plenty to say about the decision the government now reckons with.

Following pleas last week from environmental charities and top climate scientists, more than 200 musicians – including Massive Attack, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and the xx singer Romy – have urged Andy Burnham to lead a more ambitious, joined-up response to the escalating climate impacts we all have to face. In their letter to the Prime Minister, they wrote:

The climate crisis is no longer something we fear for future generations; it is shaping our lives today. Heatwaves are disrupting schools, workplaces, hospitals, transport networks, festivals and live events.

On the same day this letter was published, protestors with Fossil Free London assembled at the Treasury. Highlighting the damage this hot, dry summer has wrought upon food production, they brought empty sacks and baskets. One of their placards stated:

Oil fuels crop failure #StopRosebank

Shortly afterwards, members of the group Scientists on Survival sprayed fire extinguishers at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Their protest echoed the increasingly stark warnings that climate scientists around the world have been making: that new oil and gas means more fire, more floods and more deaths.

As one of the scientists who was at the energy department in protest – and as one of billions of people who will have to experience the worsening symptoms of this fossil-fuelled emergency – I sincerely hope our message will be received and acted upon.

Abi Perrin speaking outside DESNZ. Video credit: Jamie Lowe

Decisions, decisions

According to the latest whisperings, the government may delay its decision on Rosebank. Ministers are apparently concerned about the ‘optics’ of approving new fossil fuels whilst most of England and Wales is in drought and large areas of the UK remain on fire.

But more so than ever, we need politicians to go beyond worrying only about how their decisions will be seen: we need them to take the wider impacts of those decisions far more seriously. Speaking about the choice Andy Burnham has to make, Brian Eno, who signed the musicians’ letter, summarised:

He can stand with the fossil fuel industry and approve Rosebank, or he can stand with the people who will live with the consequences of that decision.

Featured image via Kirk Pritchard

By Abi Perrin

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